HUMAN CAPITAL ASSESSMENT IN RURAL AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL BULGARIA
Problems of Geography, 2019, Vol.3-4, DOI: https://doi.org/10.35101/PRG-2019.3-4.5
Svetla Georgieva
Abstract:
This paper examines the human capital in the rural areas of South Central Bulgaria and the impact of various factors on the supply of human capital at the local community level (municipalities). The objective of the study is to analyse and evaluate the state of the human capital in the rural areas of the South Central Region (Yuzhen tcentralen rajon – NUTS 2). Human capital is a concept of economic theory, which represents a particular form of the capital, namely – the knowledge and skills, competencies and qualifications of people. This kind of capital is the driving force of economic growth, productivity, income, as well as the overall improvement of the individual’s well-being. The territorial scope of the study covers the municipalities within the South Central Region of Bulgaria, which are designated as rural areas for the purposes of rural development policy. The comparative geographical analysis is based on two groups of education indicators: 1) ones that take into account the level of education of the population; 2) ones related to the process of generating human capital at young age. Cluster analysis was used to identify groups of objects (in this case – municipalities) whit similar values of the selected indicators. The results indicate that there are five main clusters, identified depending on the variation in the applied variables. The qualitative assessment of the human capital is a result of a comparative analysis between each cluster on one hand, and the mean values for rural areas in the South Central Region on the other. The groups (clusters) of municipalities with indicator values close to, or above the average for rural areas, have medium to high quality of human capital. The analysis confirms the correlation between the degree of economic development of the municipalities and the state of their human capital. However, this correlation is not always valid, as the available human capital of some municipalities remains unused, due to structural changes in the local economy.
Keywords:
human capital, rural areas, education-based approach
Author information:
Author: Svetla Georgieva
E-mail: s.geo@abv.bg
Affiliation: National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography – BAS, str. Acad. G. Bonchev, bl. 3, Sofia 1113, Bulgaria
How to cite:
Georgieva, S. (2019). ОЦЕНКА НА ЧОВЕШКИЯ КАПИТАЛ В СЕЛСКИТЕ РАЙОНИ НА ЮЖНА ЦЕНТРАЛНА БЪЛГАРИЯ. Problems of Geography, 2019, Vol.3-4, p. 51-72. https://doi.org/10.35101/PRG-2019.3-4.5