By Tian He &BaoYajun, Members of the Research Team on “The Waxing and Waning of a State and the Role of Human Capital” of DRC

Research Report, Special Issue, No 12, 2016 (Total NO 1487)

Abstract: Brazil ushered in its golden age of development for a decade in the new era. The rapidly expanding economy has enabled Brazil to exert a significant influence on South America and the globe at large. In terms of human capital, Brazil’s expenditure in education exceeded the average level of OECD member countries between 1992 and 2010. Driven by high education investment, the education duration for people has extended and human capital contributed 40%to Brazil’s economic growth. But in recent years, Brazil is facing a bottleneck in human capital accumulation. Brazil, stuck in “the resource curse”, was restrained by high labor costs and stagnant human capital accumulation, plaguing its progress of industrial upgrading. This inspires us that we should value the key role of human capital in a country’s rise, formulate the human capital strategy in a targeted way in different developmental stages, and treasure the role of human capital in promoting economic transformation and industrial upgrading.

Key words: human capital, the rise of big powers, Brazil