Current problems in evaluating the effectiveness of human capital investment in Uzbekistan and their solutions

Abstract

This article analyzes the methodological and institutional problems that arise in evaluating the economic effectiveness of human capital investment in Uzbekistan and develops proposals for addressing them. The study critically examines the main approaches used in international practice — the cost-return approach (the Mincerian rate of return to education), the stock-based approach (the World Bank's Human Capital Index), and the lifetime income method — and identifies the limitations of applying them in Uzbekistan's context. The findings show that the main problems are the absence of a unified national methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of human capital investment, the disconnect between education and health statistics and labor-market outcomes, the lack of regular studies calculating the rate of return to education, insufficient attention to quality indicators, the non-implementation of results-based budgeting principles, and a shortage of qualified specialists in this field. To address these problems, the article proposes a package of measures, including establishing a unified national monitoring and evaluation center, integrating inter-agency databases, and introducing results-based budgeting.