The Limitations of Human Capital Theory to Explain Educational Expansion: 1910-1940

• In Event: Theory and Practice: Expanding Historical Models of Education

Abstract

I attempt to show that what economists would call non-pecuniary investments and consumption were also important elements in the expansion of secondary education during its most intense period (1910-1940) rather than solely a “rational investment” in future earnings. I argue that a human capital approach is overly simplistic and underestimates other benefits, both individual and social, that provided strong incentives for high school attendance.

Author

• Laura Holden, Michigan State University