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Oil boom, human capital and economic development: Some recent evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Franklin Obeng-Odoom
Franklin Obeng-Odoom*
Affiliation:
University of Technology, Sydney, Australia United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva, Switzerland
*
Franklin Obeng-Odoom, School of Built Environment, University of Technology, Sydney, Peter Johnson Building, DAB, Level 5, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia. Email: Franklin.Obeng-Odoom@uts.edu.au
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Abstract

This article highlights and assesses orthodox responses to three crucial questions in political economy, namely: the role of human capital in the process of economic development, how this role transforms during a period of resource abundance and what is the place of education in empowering labour to reclaim or transform surplus value. Drawing on recent evidence collected from Ghana, a new and young oil economy, it proposes different responses to all these questions which imply the need to replace the concept of ‘human capital’ with ‘human development’ and to move from theoretical to substantivist analysis of oil, education and labour relations.

Keywords

P 15P36Q15Africadecent workeducation and trainingGhanahuman capitallabouroil
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 100 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015

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