scholarly journals Culture at Work: Self-Entrepreneurialism and Earnings Inequality in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Moullin
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Working Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Earnings Inequality ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Employment Practices ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Working Age

Several social theorists describe a culture of self-entrepreneurialism: a subjectivity in which individuals see themselves as determining their objective economic outcomes or earnings. This culture, it is thought, is institutionalized in contemporary employment practices such that, as in human capital theory, self-entrepreneurialism is widespread among employees, and the more self-entrepreneurial earn more. I contribute a quantitative and comprehensive response to these largely untested claims using survey data from the mid-1990s through mid-2010s, representative of working-age Americans. I find individuals’ self-mastery, self-directedness, focus on self-growth and self-foresight of their future forms one general latent reflective self-concept. As a subjectivity, this self-entrepreneurialism is not associated with self-sufficiency or self-flexibility but is high among Americans regardless of social group. In terms of objective earnings, I find self-entrepreneurialism to be associated with an average earnings premium of up to ten percent of average earnings within occupations. However, self-entrepreneurialism does almost nothing to account for enduring earnings inequality between occupations. Further, over individuals’ working life, there is no association between increasing self-entrepreneurialism and increased earnings. Thus, in line with the theory of cultural capital, but not of human capital, self-entrepreneurialism works materially at work.

Employee self-concepts, voluntary learning behavior, and perceived employability

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 264-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungjun Kim ◽  
Hacksoo Kim ◽  
Jinkyu Lee
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Human Capital Theory ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Learning Behavior ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Employability ◽  
Interactive Relationship ◽  
Concept Theory

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents of employees’ perceived employability based on both self-concept and human capital theory. The study tested the relationship between employees’ self-concepts and perceived employability by using organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) and role-breadth self-efficacy. This study also examined the interactive relationship between self-concepts and voluntary leaning behavior, which can be viewed as a means of enhancing human capital. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 301 employees of an organization in Korea. Findings – The results demonstrated that OBSE and its interaction with voluntary learning behavior were positively correlated with perceived employability. Research limitations/implications – The data were cross-sectional. Causal inferences should be made with caution. Originality/value – Unlike previous literature that has relied primarily on human capital theory, this study draws on self-concept theory to show that employee self-concept can be an antecedent of perceived employability. Furthermore, this study argues that employees’ perceived employability may be more fully understood through the lenses of both self-concept and human capital theories.

Different Country, Same Work

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Painter ◽  
Matthew R. Sanderson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Mexican Immigrants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Capital Theory ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Capital Theory

This study builds on recent work investigating the process of migration channeling between analogous sectors of the Mexican and U.S. labor markets. In this study, the authors take up the question of whether channeling between Mexico and the United States promotes immigrants’ economic integration. Drawing on previous research on channeling, and using insights from human capital theory, the authors test the hypothesis that immigrants who are able to use their industry-specific knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired in Mexico within the same industry in the United States achieve higher levels of economic integration. Using a sample of Mexican immigrants from the New Immigrant Survey, we find that industrially channeled immigrants experience a wage premium of over $5,000, on average, in the United States. Our study concludes with a discussion of what industrial channeling means for Mexican immigrants’ broader integration into U.S. society.

Human Capital, Cultural Capital and the Economic Attainment Patterns of Asian-Born Immigrants to the United States: Multi-Level Analyses

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dudley L. Poston
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
The United States ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Economic Attainment ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Female Immigrants

This article analyzed the economic attainment patterns of Asian-born male and female immigrants to the United States using hierarchical linear models (HLM). Specifically, it examined to what extent selected measures of human capital and cultural capital characteristics affect the levels of earnings of male and female Asian-born immigrants. The principal data source for this article came from the five percent file of individual census questionnaires from the Public Use Microdata Samples of the 1990 US Census of Population. In general, the results of the study conform to previous research, i.e., educational attainment at both the micro and macro levels was an important predictor of earnings achievement. As to cultural capital or country level variables, the analysis did not show evidence of statistically significant effects on earnings. The final section discusses the advantages of using the HLM approach as well as issues for further research.

scholarly journals Development of the Human Capital Theory in the 21st Century: Megatrends and the Russian Context

2020 ◽  
pp. 60-87
Author(s):  
Olga V. Kudelina ◽  
◽  
Irina B. Adova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Capital Theory ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
New Era ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Bibliographic Search ◽  
Fundamental Research ◽  
Active Research ◽  
Capital Development

The authors review the development of the human capital theory with its four main stages in terms of components and the studied proxy variables: classical thoughts about investment in human capital, economic fundamental research in the field of human capital, research in the field of the theory of investment in human capital, the transformation of views on the theory of human capital. The established periodisation of the stages of human capital development shows that since 2010 a new era of human capital formation has been forming under changes in the paradigm of socioeconomic relations caused by the explosive growth of digital technologies and the pronounced individualisation of human labour, which has become less institutionalised. As a result of a bibliographic search, the authors found that more than half of the publications on human capital in the Scopus database (66.1%) cover the period from 2010 to 2020. The most active research in this area is conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and Russia. Research interests are expanding from socioeconomic sciences to computer science, engineering, the humanities, and environmental sciences.

An Exploratory Case Study of Human Capital of a Function of Innovation in Organizational Culture

2021 ◽  
pp. 245-273
Author(s):  
Maurice D. Harmon
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Career Development ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Generation Y ◽  
The United States ◽  
Training And Development ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Exploratory Case Study

A retention and motivation issue exists in organizations among Generation Y in the United States. The exploratory case study design allowed the researcher to garner in-depth analysis of the participants' perspectives regarding human capital as a function of innovation in organizational culture. The diffusion of Innovation and the human capital theory were the foundation guiding the study. Three themes emerged from the data: 1) training and development, 2) rules and regulations, 3) motivation. Training and development involved training focused on career development and upward mobility. Rules and regulations involved inflexible guidelines that impede innovation. Motivation involved the necessary culture needed to engage Generation Y employees and build morale. Three recommendations were provided for organizational leadership: 1) leadership acquire a good understanding of Generation Y employees, 2) invest in Generation Y's training and career development, 3) adopt ways to motivate Generation Y employees.

scholarly journals Human Capital Strategies to Reduce Employee Turnover in the Food Service and Automotive Industries

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 84-90
Author(s):  
Olivia Patrice Chante’ Miller ◽  
Regina Banks-Hall
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Employee Turnover ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Employee Motivation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Organizational Strategies ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Voluntary Employee Turnover

High voluntary employee turnover in service industries often exceeds 60%, negatively affecting profitability due to employee replacement costs. In studies conducted with multinational corporate leaders, they acknowledged a lack of business direction resulting in a 68% failure to implement organizational strategies. Through a multiple case study, we aimed to explore the human capital strategies utilized in the automotive and food service industries to reduce voluntary employee turnover. We analyzed the responses of twenty-four service leaders in the Eastern and Midwest regions of the United States through the process of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding. Vroom’s expectancy theory and G.S. Becker’s human capital theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. Five emergent themes supported positive work relationships with employees through employee motivation, employee selection, and employee incentives: benchmarking, training, communication strategies, organizational change, and integrity. The results support employee development and improved corporate profitability, which increases competitive advantage and economic sustainability within the service industry.

scholarly journals Education in Korea: Efficiency vs. Equity

1990 ◽  
Vol 5 (0) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Dong-Kun Kim ◽  
Joong-Ryul Kim
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Capital Theory ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Labor Market Segmentation ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Labor Quality

This paper attempts to analyse the effects of education on income distribution in Korea. The human capital theory suggests that an unequal distribution can be reduced by improving the distribution of education because variations in labor income are due to the differences in labor quality in terms of the amount of human capital, especially education, acquired by the workers. On the other hand, a general skepticism about the role of education also can be observed. Thurow, for instance, has shown that in the United States, a country which is a prominent example of educational expansion, schooling has had only a negligible effect in reducing income inequality, although education constitutes one of the key elements in economic growth. Critics of human capital theory, one example is the labor market segmentation theory, asserts that education cannot improve earnings inequality unless other institutional factors, such as occupational earnings structure, are changed. By investigating those two approaches, we can assess whether education can be used as a policy tool to improve the earnings distribution.

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