THE IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL ON LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY REGARDING ‘ET 2020’ TARGETS

This paper is intended to clarify the European Commission’s Education and Training (ET 2020) strategy, focusing primarily on the dimension of educational attainment. According to the ET 2020, the percentage of the population aged between 30 and 34 who have completed their tertiary education, should be at least 40% by 2020. Meanwhile, also forecasts a reduction in the early school leaver rate to less than 10%. The purposes of this study are to explore the present educational attainment performance in various OECD countries and to analyse the determinants of productivity growth regarding these educational targets. We found that in long run, an increase in the level of human capital resulted in a greater increase in productivity in those countries where the tertiary education and early school leaver ratios targets are achieved. Our conclusions highlight that educational reforms are needed to rethink the establishment of knowledge societies.