The impact of psychological and human capital on wages
Open accessAbstract
Historically, economists have taken the position that psychological capital is either unobservable or immeasurable; thus, heretofore, little evidence has been available on the contribution of psychological capital to wages. Using data drawn from two different waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we offer evidence that psychological capital has both a direct effect—via self‐esteem—and an indirect effect—through locus of control—on an individual's real wage. We find a person s wage is more sensitive to changes in self‐esteem than to comparable alterations in human capital. Both relative wages and human capital contribute to self‐esteem.
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The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacts human capital through its negative effect on adolescent mental health.
“Furthermore, because of the importance of mental health as a component of human capital (Goldsmith et al., 1997; Graff and Neidell, 2013), our findings suggest a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on human capital (O’Connell et al., 2022).”
From COVID-19 pandemic and adolescent mental health in China: Micro evidence and socioeconomic mechanisms (2022) · cites this paper as Goldsmith et al., 1997
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- Authors
- GOLDSMITH, A. H., VEUM, J. R., & DARITY, W.
- Affiliations
- Washington and Lee University (US)
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (US)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- GOLDSMITH, ARTHUR H.
- VEUM, JONATHAN R.
- DARITY, WILLIAM
- Venue
- Economic Inquiry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1997-10
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 815-829
- ISSN
- 0043-3640 (ISSN-L)
- 0095-2583
- 1465-7295
- OpenAlex
- W2054037695
- Cited by
- 372
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 11.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- autopapers.ssrn.com
- Locations
- Economic Inquiry (publishedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- psychological capital, human capital, wages, self-esteem, locus of control, relative wages, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, labor market outcomes
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