Human Capital Markets.

Autor/inn/en	Das, Jishnu; Castro Dobbin, Cauê de
Institution	National Bureau of Economic Research
Titel	Human Capital Markets.
Quelle	Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research (2026) PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext (2) Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Reihe	NBER working paper series. w35061
Beigaben	Illustrationen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Monografie; Graue Literatur
DOI	10.3386/w35061
Schlagwörter	Bildungswesen; Entwicklungsland; Migration; Humankapital; Markt; Privatwirtschaft; Arbeitspapier
Abstract	In many low- and middle-income countries, consumers access education and health services in environments characterized by substantial provider choice. In these settings, a dense landscape of fee-charging private providers has emerged, often located near public facilities and competing for the same clientele. We refer to these environments as human capital markets. This chapter begins by documenting that such markets are now pervasive. We present empirical evidence that human capital markets share many features with conventional product markets: households choose among a wide range of public and private providers with heterogeneous attributes, and providers respond strategically to policy interventions and competitive pressures. We then assess the extent to which canonical models from industrial organization can account for observed behavior, highlighting both their insights and their limitations. Next, we examine the key ways in which human capital markets depart from standard product-market benchmarks--most notably that education and health are both consumption goods and investments, and that quality is often difficult to observe--and review empirical and conceptual approaches developed to address these features. We conclude by outlining the major unresolved questions and promising directions for future research.
Erfasst von	ZBW - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft, Kiel
Update	2026/4