华东师范大学学报(教育科学版) ›› 2025, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (10): 10-32.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2025.10.002

• 专题:教育研究方法 • 上一篇    

一国教育人力资本究竟应如何测量?——一个相关前沿测量方法与转换技术的系统评述

云如先, 黄斌, 祝雅汶   

  1. 南京大学教育研究院,南京 210023
  • 接受日期:2025-05-08 出版日期:2025-10-01 发布日期:2025-10-09
  • 基金资助:
    国家社会科学基金教育学重大课题“教育推动人口红利向人才红利转变的关键路径研究”(VGA240001)。

How to Measure the Educational Human Capital of A Country: A Systematic Review on Frontier Measurement Methods and International Data Conversion Technology

Ruxian Yun, Bin Huang, Yawen Zhu   

  1. School of Education, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
  • Accepted:2025-05-08 Online:2025-10-01 Published:2025-10-09

摘要:

人力资本是宏观教育与经济政策研究中经常使用的核心概念。要完成一项宏观教育政策计量研究,必须先要实现对一国人力资本的精确测量。通过一定的测量方法与数据转换技术形成国际可比的教育人力资本数据库,是学者开展宏观教育政策研究的基础性工作。本文沿着教育人力资本测量的“演变史”,系统介绍受教育年限、学生认知技能、经质量调整后的受教育年限和成人认知技能四种常用的教育人力资本测量指标,包括它们的基本原理、测算步骤、转换技术与常用国际数据库等,并依据人力资本理论与教育生产函数理论,对这四个测量指标的优缺点进行比较分析,提出评判教育人力资本测量指标优劣的四个基本原则,即“直接测量优于间接测量”、“存量测量优于流量测量”、“产出测量优于投入测量”和“质量测量优于数量测量”,最后对未来国家教育人力资本研究的发展方向进行了讨论。

关键词: 教育人力资本, 宏观教育政策, 受教育年限, 认知技能

Abstract:

Human capital is a core concept commonly used in macro education and economic policy research. To complete a macro-econometric study of education policy, it is essential to achieve an accurate measurement of a country’s human capital. Forming an internationally comparable database of educational human capital through certain measurement methods and data conversion technology is the basic work of scholars to carry out macro education policy research. Following the “evolutionary history” of educational human capital measurement, this paper systematically introduces four commonly used measurement indicators of educational human capital, including years of education, students’ cognitive skills, quality-adjusted years of education and adult cognitive skills, including their basic principles, measurement steps, conversion techniques and commonly used international databases. Based on the theory of human capital and educational production function, a comparative analysis was conducted on the advantages and disadvantages of these indicators. Four basic principles for evaluating these indicators were proposed, namely “direct measurement is superior to indirect measurement”, “stock measurement is superior to flow measurement”, “output measurement is superior to input measurement” and “quality measurement is superior to quantity measurement”. Finally, we discuss the development direction of future national education human capital research.

Key words: educational human capital, macro education policies, years of education, cognitive skills