Key research themes
1. How do modern challenges like technological change and VUCA environments affect human capital management and necessitate new strategic approaches?
This research theme investigates the impact of the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) phenomenon and rapid technological disruptions on the management of human capital within organizations. Understanding this is vital as traditional models of human capital management are increasingly inadequate in addressing skills instability, reconfigured job designs, and shifting workforce expectations in the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0. Adapting human capital strategies to these challenges affects organizational resilience, workforce productivity, and long-term economic development.
2. What roles do human capital externalities, firm environment, and informal learning play in wage dispersion and human capital accumulation in developing economies?
This theme explores how returns to human capital depend not only on individual attributes but also on firm-specific factors, knowledge diffusion, and informal on-the-job learning. In developing countries, understanding the interplay of worker and firm human capital, and mechanisms like informal training through imitation, is essential for designing effective education and labor policies that enhance productivity and wage outcomes.
3. How do migration and return migration affect human capital development, skill mismatches, and economic growth in developing countries?
This research area examines the complex relationship between migration flows and human capital accumulation in origin countries, focusing on how return migrants acquire skills abroad and their subsequent integration into the domestic labor market. It addresses the challenges of skill mismatches, both undereducation and overeducation, and evaluates how epidemics, migration-induced knowledge transfers, and policy environments influence long-term growth and labor market outcomes.