Human Capital in the History of Economic Thought: A Critical Examination of the Work of Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz

Abstract

This paper traces historically the transformation of the notion of human capital within the history of economic thought. It will briefly trace the transformation from neoclassical to neoliberal economics and then from neoliberal to liberal development economics. It is posited that not merely there has been a conceptual shift in liberal development economics from the neoliberal concept of human capital but an epistemological shift has occurred as well. This paper aims to concisely trace both shifts through the work of Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz.