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2 results

  • 7 - Alternative Conceptions of the Relation between Skill Acquisition and Productivity

  • from Part III - Alternatives to Human Capital
  • Martin Carnoy, Stanford University, California
  • Book:
    The Political Economy of Education
    Published online:
    08 February 2024
    Print publication:
    15 February 2024, pp 88-101

  • Summary

    Part 3 (Chapters 7 and 8) reviews theories of labor markets and the relationship between education and earnings that disagree with at least some of the underlying premises of human capital theory. These theories introduce alternative conceptions of education’s role in worker productivity and earnings. Chapter 7 reviews theories that challenge the human capital assumption that there is a direct, causal link between the skills acquired in education and the productivity/wages of workers in jobs as determined through wage competition. This includes the major contributions of signaling theory, queuing theory, and internal labor market theory to understanding labor markets. All three of these alternatives to human capital theory share the assumption that the skills that individuals acquire through investing in education are not the principal reason that they are more or less productive and therefore earn higher or lower wages in the labor market, as claimed by human capital theory.