The Effects of Human Capital and Social Capital on Economic Well-Being of the Elderly in Korea

노년기 경제적 복지를 위한 사회투자정책의 방향 : 인적자본 및 사회자본의 활용을 중심으로

Human capital theory and social capital theory provide a framework for analyzing economic well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of human capital and social capital on the economic well-being of the elderly. The data from the 1st wave of KLoSA (Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging) were used (n=3,426). The major findings were as follows: First, human capital and social capital are both resources that can contribute to increasing the economic well-being of the elderly. Second, the effects of human capital on the economic well-being of the elderly were relatively higher than the effects of social capital. Third, the relative contributions of human capital and social capital to increasing economic well-being varied by sex, age, and region. Based on the empirical results, the implications for social investment in human capital and social capital were provided.