Education Inequality, Human Capital Inequality and the Kuznets Curve

This paper develops an improved measure of human capital. Using a Mincer specification of human capital, the improved measure takes into consideration rates of returns to schooling, education quality, and school dropouts. The paper applies the improved measure to evaluate national and global human capital inequality and compares them with education inequality. Human capital Kuznets curves are evident when relative inequality measures are used while education Kuznets curves are found when absolute inequality measures are used. It is also found that while global education inequality has been declining over the past four decades, global human capital inequality remains largely steady.