Austria 2025 – The Effect of Human Capital Accumulation on Output Growth

The study measures the contribution of human capital to output growth in Austria. Human capital is usually referred to as the stock of knowledge and abilities of the labour force which raises productivity and can be attained by education or other processes. Following Katz – Murphy (1992), we construct a measure for the Austrian human capital stock. Using data on remuneration according to educational attainment, raw labour input is rebased into efficiency units. Applying a standard growth accounting approach we show the importance of human capital and education for the Austrian GDP growth. We are able to explain a part of the past output growth, which is otherwise subsumed in residual total factor productivity growth.