HUMAN CAPITAL IN THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED SOCIETY - COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: ROMANIA-PORTUGAL

The current economic crisis has rushed even more the economists’ concerns to identify new directions for the sustainable development of the society. In this context, the human capital is crystallised as the key variable of the creative economy and of the knowledge-based society. As such, we have directed the research underlying this paper to identifying the most eloquent indicators of human capital to meet the demands of the knowledge-based society and sustainable development as well as towards achieving a comprehensive analysis of the human capital in the EU countries, respectively of a comparative analysis: Romania - Portugal. To carry out this paper, the methodology used is based on the interdisciplinary triangulation involving approaches from the perspective of human resource management, economy and economic statistics. The research techniques used consist of the content analysis and investigation of secondary data of international organisations accredited in the field of this research, such as: the United Nation Development Programme - Human Development Reports, World Bank - World Development Reports, International Labour Organisation, Eurostat, European Commission’s Eurobarometer surveys and reports on human capital. The research results emphasise both similarities and differences between the two countries under the comparative analysis and the main directions in which one has to invest for the development of human capital.