Human Capital and Innovation

Abstract

Human capital, generally seen as a set of knowledge, abilities and skills of the individuals, used in the activities that stimulate economic growth and development, was considered to be a stimulus of the innovation process. In the economic literature, it was mentioned the existence of three types of human capital: firm-specific human capital, industry-specific human capital and individual-specific human capital. Because the first two types of human capital refer to the abilities and knowledge valuable only within a specific firm or industry, they have a limited impact on the innovative activity within a region or state. In contrast with these two, individual-specific human capital implies knowledge that is applicable to a large range of firms and industries. Considering that individuals abilities and skills that can be improved and so they can change the way they act, human capital is seen to be an important source of competitive advantage to individuals, organizations and even to societies, having a huge capacity of innovation induction.