The Impact of Human Capital on Economic Growth in the SADC Region

Abstract

This paper analyzed the impact of human capital on economic growth in Southern African Development Community (SADC). GDP per capita was linked to health and educational capital while taking into account the role of labour force and physical capital. The study used panel data from thirteen SADC countries for the growth periods 1990 - 1995, 1995-2000 and 2000-2005. The findings show that education capital had a positive statistically significant effect on GDP per capita whilst health capital had a positive but statistically insignificant effect. Making quality education accessible to all is recommended to policy makers.

Keywords: Economic growth, health capital, education capital, labour force