Human capital on the ageing labour market - methods of measurement on example of Poland

Marcin Stonawski, Cracow University of Economics

Background and Purpose of the research. Ageing of population brings about economic, social and demographic consequences. This process has also a strong influence on the labour market. One of the main problem is how the ageing of labour market influences the level and formulation of human capital. The aim of the work is to present and evaluate a current and future situation of the labour market in Poland from human capital formulation point of view. Data and Methods. In my study I applied a method based on a magnitude of human capital accumulated in a person which takes under consideration the level of education, ageing of knowledge, acquirement of experience, forgetting knowledge and human interactions. The study is based on data from Central Statistical Office in Poland, the National Census 2002 and International Labour Organization. Main results. The results show that accumulated human capital is diversified among the voivodeships in Poland. The significant accumulation is observed in regions with strong economic development and academic centers. Accumulated human capital is correlated with the economic variables for example: GDP and the development of private enterprise. Another important finding is that human capital resources might increase in spite of the process of population ageing in the future. Because the number of workers with higher level of experience will increase together with the process of labour force ageing and the level of education gradually rise in Poland.