Received:
2025-10-10 | Accepted:
2025-12-23 | Published:
2026-03-30
Title
The assessment of relationship between human capital and economic performance in Slovakia, Poland and Sweden
Abstract
The role of human capital as an important driver of economic and social development is well-established. Economic theory, and even more so economic practice, seeks to assess its impact on labor productivity and economic growth. The goal of this paper is to design and construct a human capital index comprising pertinent indicators, use it to evaluate human capital in selected European Union countries (Slovakia, Poland and Sweden), and then to identify the relationship between human capital and economic growth in the three countries. Unlike the HCI compiled by the World Bank, which focuses primarily on outcome indicators and evaluates more than 170 different countries, our proposed index also includes cost indicators. This index is designed for developed countries, where indicators such as the under-five mortality rate or expected length of schooling up to a certain age are less meaningful. The analysis was conducted for the period spanning 2014 to 2023 using statistical country data from Eurostat. Descriptive statistics, one-factor analysis of variance, Tukey HSD test, base index, geometric mean, correlation, regression, and comparative analysis were employed to fulfill the objectives of the paper. The Human Capital Index (HCI) showed the lowest value at the beginning of the observed period in Poland. However, in the subsequent years, Poland exhibited a more pronounced trajectory of human capital, as evidenced by its surpassing Slovakia in terms of HCI growth. In Sweden, the human capital index in 2014-2023 was significantly higher than in Slovakia and Poland. The GDP growth rate exceeded the average growth rate of the human capital index in all three countries, i.e. in all countries economic growth outpaced human capital growth, but the differences in favor of economic growth were modest. Nevertheless, it can be reasonably assumed that the differences in favor of economic growth would have been more pronounced if economic development had not been slowed down by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Keywords
economic performance, HDI, human capital, human capital indicators, investment
JEL classifications
I25
, J24
, O11
URI
http://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/1391
DOI
Pages
53-68
Funding
This study was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic [grant VEGA, Reg. No. 1/0396/23], “Smart solutions and their impact on social and economic regional development in terms of Agenda 2030” and also by the project “The investments in human capital in the context of achieving sustainable economic growth in the Slovak Republic and strengthening its competitiveness“, code of project MVP07_2024, based on the financial support from the European Union within the call Early Stage Grants of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (Code of the project: 09I03-03-V05-00010, Component 9: More effective management and strengthening of research, development and innovation funding), and with the financial support of the Internal Grant Scheme of the Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín.
This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
References
Ahmed, H. A., Piccinetti, L., & Rezk, M. R. (2024). Assessing the impact of innovation on Egypt’s economic growth during crisis and major events, Insights into Regional Development, 6(4), 23-44. https://doi.org/10.70132/z6529339668
Search via ReFindit
Alam, F. (2023). Human Capital and Economic Growth in India: The ARDL Approach. Amazonia Investiga, 12(68), 9-20. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.68.08.1
Search via ReFindit
Aljarallah, R. A., & Angus, A. (2020). Dilemma of Natural Resource Abundance: A Case Study of Kuwait. Sage Open, 10(1) https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019899701
Search via ReFindit
Balsmeier, B., & Woerter, M. (2019). Is this time different? How digitalization influences job creation and destruction. Research Policy, 48(8), 103765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.03.010
Search via ReFindit
Becker, G. S. (1964). Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, First Edition. NBER. https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/human-capital-theoretical-and-empirical-analysis-special-reference-education-first-edition
Search via ReFindit
Becker, G. S. (1994). Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226041223.001.0001
Search via ReFindit
Bedianashvili, G., Tsartsidze, M., Mikeladze, N., & Gabroshvili, Z. (2024). Human capital and economic growth under modern globalization. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 12(1), 268-289. https://doi.org/10.9770/jesi.2024.12.1(19)
Search via ReFindit
Boachie, C., & Adu-Darko, E. (2024). The effect of financial inclusion on economic growth: The role of human capital development. Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1), 2346118. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2346118
Search via ReFindit
Boztosun, D., Aksoylu, S. & Ulucak, Z. S. (2016). The Role of Human Capital in Economic Growth. Economics World, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.17265/2328-7144/2016.03.001
Search via ReFindit
Chaabouni, S., & Mbarek, M. B. (2023). What Will Be the Impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic on the Human Capital and Economic Growth? Evidence from Eurozone. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 1840-1859. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01328-3
Search via ReFindit
Chernenko, I. M., Kelchevskaya, N. R., Pelymskaya, I. S., & Almusaedi, H. K. A. (2021). Opportunities and Threats of Digitalisation for Human Capital Development at the Individual and Regional Levels. Economy of Region, 17(4), 1239-1255. https://doi.org/10.17059/ekon.reg.2021-4-14
Search via ReFindit
Di Cataldo, M., & Rodrígeuz-Pose, A. (2017). What drives employment growth and social inclusion in the regions of the European Union? Regional Studies, 51(12). https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2016.1255320
Search via ReFindit
Diebolt, C., & Hippe, R. (2019). The long-run impact of human capital on innovation and economic development in the regions of Europe. Applied Economics, 51(5), 542-563. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2018.1495820
Search via ReFindit
Doré, N. I., & Teixeira, A. A. C. (2023). The role of human capital, structural change, and institutional quality on Brazil's economic growth over the last two hundred years (1822-2019). Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 66, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2023.04.003
Search via ReFindit
Dvorak, M., Royny, P., Grebennikova, V., & Faminskaya, M. (2020). Economic impacts of Covid-19 on the labor market and human capital. Terra Economicus, 18(4), 78-96. https://doi.org/10.18522/2073-6606-2020-18-4-78-96
Search via ReFindit
Ershova, I., Belyaeva, O., & Obukhova, A. (2019). Investment in human capital education under the digital economy. Economic Annals, XXI, 180(11-12), 69-77. https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V180-08
Search via ReFindit
Eurostat. (2025). Database. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/data/database
Search via ReFindit
Garbuz, V., & Topala, P. (2017). Economic mechanisms of influence on the development of human capital trained in research. IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 227 012048. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/227/1/012048
Search via ReFindit
Gruzina, Y., Firsova, I., & Strielkowski, W. (2021). Dynamics of human capital development in economic development cycles. Economies, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/economies9020067
Search via ReFindit
Gulcemal, T. (2020). Effect of human development index on GDP for developing countries: A panel data analysis. Pressacademia, 7(4), 338-345. https://doi.org/10.17261/Pressacademia.2020.1307
Search via ReFindit
Human Capital (Summary in Slovak) | Human Capital: How what you know shapes your life (Croatian version) | OECD iLibrary. (2007). Retrieved February 12, 2024, from https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/fr/education/human-capital/summary/slovak_9789264029095-sum-sk?parentId=http%3A%2F%2Finstance.metastore.ingenta.com%2Fcontent%2Fpublication%2F9789264079793-hr
Search via ReFindit
Ismayilzade, A. A., Guliyeva, S., Teymurova, V., Azizova, R., & Chinara, A. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on the quality of human capital for the economic development of Azerbaijan. Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research, 8(1), 26-39. https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v8i1.639
Search via ReFindit
Ivanová, E., & Čepel, M. (2018). The impact of innovation performance on the competitiveness of the Visegrad 4 countries. Journal of Competitiveness, 10(1), 54-72. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2018.01.04
Search via ReFindit
Jaghoubi, S. M., & Alfalih, A. A. (2025). Analyzing the interactions between economic growth, renewable energy, and human capital in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(8), 175-190. https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.08.017
Search via ReFindit
Kwon, D. (2009). Human capital and its measurement. The 3rd OECD World Forum on "Statistics, Knowledge and Policy". http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.544.7469
Search via ReFindit
Laskowska, I., &Dańska-Borsiak. B. (2016). The Importance of Human Capital for The Economic Development of EU Regions. Comparative Economic Research, 19(5), 63-79. https://doi.org/10.1515/cer-2016-0038
Search via ReFindit
Laužikas, M., Miliūtė, A., Rudžionytė, M., & Stasilo, M. (2025). Human resource strategy and innovation capability of service companies. Insights into Regional Development, 7(1), 131-143. 9 https://doi.org/10.70132/q9664546647
Search via ReFindit
Leite, D. W., & Cardoso, L. C. B. (2023). Human capital and technology in the growth of economic structure. Investigacion Economica, 82(323), 27-52. https://doi.org/10.22201/fe.01851667p.2023.323.82953
Search via ReFindit
Linhartova, V. (2020). The Effect of Government Expenditure on Human Capital in the Czech Republic. Scientific Papers of the University of Pardubice, Series D: Faculty of Economics and Administration, 28(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.46585/sp28021056
Search via ReFindit
Madsen, J. B. (2016). Health, Human Capital Formation and Knowledge Production: Two Centuries of International Evidence. Macroeconomic Dynamics, 20(4), 909-953. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1365100514000650
Search via ReFindit
Magida, N., Ncanywa, T., Sibanda, K., & Asaleye, A. J. (2025). Human Capital Development and Public Health Expenditure: Assessing the Long-Term Sustainability of Economic Development Models. Social Sciences, 14(6), 351. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14060351
Search via ReFindit
Medennikov, V., Kokuytseva, T., Ovchinnikova, O., & Shimansky, A. (2021). Impact of human capital on sustainable development of Russia in digitalization environment. E3S Web of Conferences, 244, 11038. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202124411038
Search via ReFindit
Nezhnikova, E. (2020). Investment in human capital as the basis for the country's economic growth. E3S Web of Conferences, 164, 09046. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202016409046
Search via ReFindit
Osipov, V.S., Yankovskaya, V.V., Zakharov, M.Y., Vorozheykina, T.M. (2021). Quality of human capital of developing countries: measuring and management. International Journal for Quality Research, 16 (2), 461-480. https://doi.org/10.24874/IJQR16.02-09
Search via ReFindit
Palaščáková, D., Koľveková, G., & Melas, D. (2019). Analysis of State Investments into Human Capital in Slovak Republic. E+M Ekonomie a Management, 22(2), 114-128. https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2019-2-008
Search via ReFindit
Rahman, P., Zhang, Z., & Musa, M. (2023). Do technological innovation, foreign investment, trade and human capital have a symmetric efect on economic growth? Novel dynamic ARDL simulation study on Bangladesh. Economic Change and Restructuring, 56(2), 1327-1366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-022-09478-1
Search via ReFindit
Railaite, R., & Čiutienė, R. (2020). The Impact of Public Health Expenditure on Health Component of Human Capital. Engineering Economics, 31(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.31.3.25158
Search via ReFindit
Simmons, M. (2024). Hitting the Books: An Empirical Analysis of the Effect of Education Expenditure on GDP per Capita and Economic Growth. Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal. https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1240&context=eeb
Search via ReFindit
Steyn, R., & Ndofirepi, T. M. (2024). Why do many educated individuals leave Zimbabwe? Economic realities and the draw of developed countries. Insights into Regional Development, 6(2), 117-133. https://doi.org/10.9770/ird.2024.6.2(8)
Search via ReFindit
Storesletten, K., Zilibotti, F. (2000). Education, educational policy and growth. Swedish Economic Policy Review, 7, 39-70. https://doi.org/10.5167/UZH-2316
Search via ReFindit
Sun, J., Cai, K., & Shen, H. (2022). Pandemics and human capital: Panel data evidence from 122 countries. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.885957
Search via ReFindit
Tahsin, S. (2019). Impact of education on productivity of Bangladesh: A comparative analysis on different levels of education (primary, secondary and tertiary) and GDP growth over past 20 years in Bangladesh. Asian University for Women. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11082.41928
Search via ReFindit
Turganbayev, Y. (2023). The effect of human capital on economic growth: evidence from Kazakh regions. Economy of Region, 19(2), 385-396. https://doi.org/10.17059/ekon.reg.2023-2-7
Search via ReFindit
Wang, S., Lin, X., Xiao, H., Bu, N., & Li, Y. (2022). Empirical Study on Human Capital, Economic Growth and Sustainable Development: Taking Shandong Province as an Example. Sustainability, 14(12), Article 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127221
Search via ReFindit
Wolf, A. (2020). 'One Size Fits All' - A Default Policy that is Serving No One Well. European Review, 28(S1), S28-S43. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1062798720000885
Search via ReFindit
World Bank. (2019). World Development Report 2019: The Changing Nature of Work. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1328-3
Search via ReFindit
Zaborovskaia, O., Nadezhina, O., & Avduevskaya, E. (2020). The impact of digitalization on the formation of human capital at the regional level. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 6(4), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc6040184
Search via ReFindit
RSS 1.0