Human Capital and New Venture Performance: The Moderating Role of Social Relations

With whom should entrepreneurs create their firms in order to enhance nascent venture performance? Conventional wisdom suggests that the stronger human capital and social relations in nascent venture teams are, the better the nascent venture’s performance. We draw from social embeddedness literature, however, and argue that the positive effect of team members’ human capital on three different dimensions of nascent venture performance is weaker when team members exhibit strong social relations. Our analysis of 488 nascent venture teams in the PSED II dataset confirms our predictions, showing that nascent ventures of teams with strong human capital but weaker social relations exhibit the best performance. The study thus offers valuable contributions particularly to literature on entrepreneurial teams the determinants of new venture performance.

Cost of low back pain in Switzerland in 2005

Low back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent health problem in Switzerland and a leading cause of reduced work performance and disability. This study estimated the total cost of LBP in Switzerland in 2005 from a societal perspective using a bottom-up prevalence-based cost-of-illness approach. The study considers more cost categories than are typically investigated and includes the costs associated with a multitude of LBP sufferers who are not under medical care. The findings are based on a questionnaire completed by a sample of 2,507 German-speaking respondents, of whom 1,253 suffered from LBP in the last 4 weeks; 346 of them were receiving medical treatment for their LBP. Direct costs of LBP were estimated at 2.6 billion and direct medical costs at 6.1% of the total healthcare expenditure in Switzerland. Productivity losses were estimated at 4.1 billion with the human capital approach and 2.2 billion with the friction cost approach. Presenteeism was the single most prominent cost category. The total economic burden of LBP to Swiss society was between 1.6 and 2.3% of GDP.

Pilot study on the comprehensive economic costs of major trauma: Consequential costs are well in excess of medical costs

BACKGROUND: Trauma care is expensive. However, reliable data on the exact lifelong costs incurred by a major trauma patient are lacking. Discussion usually focuses on direct medical costs--underestimating consequential costs resulting from absence from work and permanent disability. METHODS: Direct medical costs and consequential costs of 63 major trauma survivors (ISS >13) at a Swiss trauma center from 1995 to 1996 were assessed 5 years posttrauma. The following cost evaluation methods were used: correction cost method (direct cost of restoring an original state), human capital method (indirect cost of lost productivity), contingent valuation method (human cost as the lost quality of life), and macroeconomic estimates. RESULTS: Mean ISS (Injury Severity Score) was 26.8 +/- 9.5 (mean +/- SD). In all, 22 patients (35%) were disabled, causing discounted average lifelong total costs of USD 1,293,800, compared with 41 patients (65%) who recovered without any disabilities with incurred costs of USD 147,200 (average of both groups USD 547,800). Two thirds of these costs were attributable to a loss of production whereas only one third was a result of the cost of correction. Primary hospital treatment (USD 27,800 +/- 37,800) was only a minor fraction of the total cost--less than the estimated cost of police and the judiciary. Loss of quality of life led to considerable intangible human costs similar to real costs. CONCLUSIONS: Trauma costs are commonly underestimated. Direct medical costs make up only a small part of the total costs. Consequential costs, such as lost productivity, are well in excess of the usual medical costs. Mere cost averages give a false estimate of the costs incurred by patients with/without disabilities.

The career resources model: An integrative framework for career counsellors

Changes in the nature of work and organizations have led to an increased need for self-directed career management (SDCM). However, there is no consensus in the literature of what constitutes SDCM and many related concepts have been proposed. Integrating previous research across different conceptualizations of SDCM, the paper proposes four critical career resources which are essential for career development in the modern context: human capital resources, social resources, psychological resources, and identity resources. Implications of this framework for counselling practice are presented.

Location Choices of the Creative Class: Does Tolerance Make a Difference?

Human capital and members of the creative class are bearers of economic growth, yet little is known about exactly what the relevant factors are for the concentration of the highly skilled in a specific place. Tolerance for example is supposed to make the difference between creative and human capital. But does tolerance really make a difference for anybody? And what about other factors: Are they specifically relevant for creative individuals or simply valid for the whole population? This study contributes to the discussion on the highly skilled by investigating whether tolerance, taxes, or other regional amenities contribute to their concentration and dynamics. The results show that tolerance in particular toward immigrants, but also toward same-sex partnerships, is a rather dynamic concept, differs largely between and within functional urban regions, and makes a difference regarding the highly skilled.

How specific is apprenticeship training? Evidence from inter-firm and occupational mobility after graduation

Do apprenticeships convey mainly general or also firm- and occupation-specific human capital? Specific human capital may allow for specialization gains, but may also lead to allocative inefficiency due to mobility barriers. We analyse the case of Switzerland, which combines a comprehensive, high-quality apprenticeship system with a lightly regulated labour market. To assess human capital transferability after standardized firm-based apprenticeship training, we analyse inter-firm and occupational mobility and their effects on post-training wages. Using a longitudinal data set based on the PISA 2000 survey, we find high inter-firm and low occupational mobility within one year after graduation. Accounting for endogenous changes, we find a negative effect of occupation changes on wages, but no significant wage effect for firm changes. This indicates that occupation-specific human capital is an important component of apprenticeship training and that skills are highly transferable within an occupational field.