THE HUMAN CAPITAL THEORY OF THEODORE SCHULTZ AND FINANCIAL EDUCATION

Abstract

This article explored, from a theoretical perspective, the relationship between Theodore W. Schultz’s human capital theory and the contemporary field of financial education. The analysis developed in this study argued that financial education can be understood as an investment in financial human capital. It began by reconstructing the emergence and consolidation of human capital theory within the economics of education and labor, highlighting its contribution to explaining differences in productivity, earnings, and economic growth based on investments in education and other forms of capability building. The general objective of this article was to discuss to what extent and under what conditions financial education can be conceptually framed as an investment in human capital, in light of Schultz’s work. Among the main theoretical contributions of this article, the following stand out: the explicit rendering of the conceptual affinity between financial education and human capital theory, which is seldom explored systematically in the literature; the proposal to conceive financial literacy as financial human capital, which allows the integration of different dimensions of financial competence into a single analytical framework; and the discussion of the implications of this perspective for the design of school curricula and public policies, emphasizing the need to articulate educational interventions alongside regulatory and social protection measures.