Investing in the Russian youth human capital: who benefits?
Subject The article presents the key results of the research in efficiency of investment in the Russian youth human capital. Socio-economic and demographic indices show that the ratio of funds invested in basic elements of human capital to the obtained results is far from being optimal. Objectives The objective is to study the real economic efficiency of investment in the contemporary Russian youth human capital. Methods We obtained scientific information through the analysis of official statistics, questionnaire surveys for youth, their parents, other categories of economically active population, heads of enterprises, organizations, institutions, municipalities of the Volgograd oblast, as well as semi-structured in-depth interviews with young people and expert interviews with State and municipal officials. The data were processed by the Statistica software: descriptive statistics, correlation, regression and factor analysis, non-parametric methods. Results We obtained reliable and meaningful results describing the efficiency of investment in the Russian youth human capital. Conclusions The State is the only meaningful investor in the analyzed sphere. Investments in young people's education are expenses with unproved economic efficiency and unclear purposes for both investors and investees. Real return on investment in the contemporary Russian youth human capital is far beyond the purely economic efficiency; it cannot be quantified directly. The scientific novelty of the paper is in its unique nature: it is the first comprehensive research of this kind in our country. Previous studies addressed only certain aspects of forming the human capital of the individual, company, region or country as a whole.