Human capital as a fundamental determinant of rural development

Abstract The Krasnoyarsk territory is a vast area. According to the Federal State Service of the Statistic the territory population density is 1.2 people per 1 square km. Thus it makes some special demands on the quality of human capital, and it is human capital which makes it possible to develop both the rural territory and the entire economy as a whole. The problem is that human capital has suffered a lack of attention for many years. Among the ways to overcome this situation we see a number of necessary measures aimed at increasing wages for agricultural workers, improving the demographic situation, diversifying the areas of employment, improving labor conditions, and improving the quality of life. In this study, we used a sociological research method by applying a questionnaire we had compiled for the survey of rural residents. Here the author defines the term “human capital of the rural population” in her own opinion and lines up a system of indicators characterizing the basic components of the human capital of the rural population, such as health capital, education capital, labor capital, cultural and behavioral capital, as well as intellectual one. To overcome the negative situation taking place in rural areas of the Krasnoyarsk territory, it is necessary to assess human capital on the previously mentioned 5 basic components, and on base of the results to propose a socially attractive model for rural development, which in its turn will attract additional human capital. The proposed measures make it possible to increase employment in rural areas by creating agricultural cooperatives, small businesses and farms, and expand the ways of use of maternity benefit in the development of rural households and small businesses, to reduce the income tax rate for individual entrepreneurs who are registered in rural areas, as well as to increase the standards for the total area for housing construction for young families, and to apply digital forms of cultural and information services to the rural population.