The Love Aspects of Human Capital and the Economic Activity of Countries

Amavilah, Voxi Heinrich (2013): The Love Aspects of Human Capital and the Economic Activity of Countries.

Abstract

The influence of non-economic factors and forces on economic activities and their outcomes is undeniable. Love, being so central to many human activities, should similarly have some effects on the economic activity of nations. This paper (a) builds a simple but innovative model, (b) imposes it on a limited data set to estimate the effects of love experience and feeling on the economic activity of a group of 133 countries, and (3) compares such effects to those of other determinants of the economic activity, including Barro-Lee human capital, openness, and physical capital, as well as a broad measure of national well-being, HDI. The results strongly favor physical capital followed, by HDI and Barro-Lee human capital. Although small in magnitude, love effects are more statistically significant than those of openness. There appears to be some multicollinearity and model functional issues which challenge the robustness of the estimates and call for further research. However, the technical efficiency of the estimates is reasonable, so that one may conclude that love is important, but not critical to economic activity. The policy implications call for more investment in physical capital, schooling, and in the overall improvement of human development than in love experience and feeling, even though those are important too.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Love capital, Barro-Lee human capital, Mincer human capital formula, economic activity
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C2 - Single Equation Models ; Single Variables > C21 - Cross-Sectional Models ; Spatial Models ; Treatment Effect Models ; Quantile Regressions; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C5 - Econometric Modeling > C51 - Model Construction and Estimation; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I0 - General; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J12 - Marriage ; Marital Dissolution ; Family Structure ; Domestic Abuse; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources ; Human Development ; Income Distribution ; Migration; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O47 - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth ; Aggregate Productivity ; Cross-Country Output Convergence; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification

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