Popov D. Human Capital in Russia: Measurement Accuracy and Limitations of the Method. Social Sciences, 2021, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 37-49.

Abstract

In this article, I relied on the Program for the International As- sessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to discuss problems of the appli- cation of human capital theory in Russia, retrospective dynamics of its accu- mulation, distinctive features of human capital in Russia, and what makes it different from human capital in the OECD countries. The deep-cutting struc- tural, social and economic transformations of the late 20th and early 21st cen- turies imposed certain limitations on its use. There is an obvious consistency/ inconsistency of formal diplomas and measured literacy (competence). An analysis of the average levels of measured literacy in different generations revealed that those educated in post-Soviet times demonstrated a much low- er level of measured literacy than the levels demonstrated, on average, by similar groups in the OECD or East European countries (Estonia, Poland). It was also demonstrated that the income gap between respondents with low and high literacy levels in Russia is much narrower than in the OESD coun- tries. This means that in Russia, it is much harder to convert, so to speak, knowledge and diplomas into earnings, and that the results of the standard procedure for measuring human capital in Russia are somewhat doubtful, to say the least.

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