No. 90: Human Capital Development in Azerbaijan

Author(s): Surayya Mammadova, Farid Guliyev, Lucy Wallwork, Nazaket Azimli
Editor(s): Farid Guliyev (Special Editor), Tamara Brunner, Lili Di Puppo, Iris Kempe, Matthias Neumann, Jeronim Perović, Heiko Pleines, Tinatin Zurabishvili
Journal Title: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 90
Publisher(s): Caucasus Research Resource Centers; Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen; Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich; German Association for East European Studies (DGO)
Publication Year: 2016

Four authors discuss Human Capital Development (HCD) in Azerbaijan: Surayya Mammadova addresses the link between state fiscal resources and HCD in Azerbaijan during the peak period of oil prices, positing that despite the possibilities presented by the expanding fiscal space and increasing capital inflows, the government of Azerbaijan did not manage to effectively increase public sector expenditures on HCD; Farid Guliyev argues that the diversion of public funds away from HCD toward unproductive investments by rent-seeking elites on the supply side and low returns to high-quality education and an excessive reliance on patronage and personal connections on the demand side are the key impediments to the advancement of educational quality in Azerbaijan; Lucy Wallwork contends that Azerbaijan’s oil wealth has possibly left patriarchal norms in place, in spite of the legacy of the nominal commitment to gender equality handed down from the USSR; Nazaket Azimli assesses the contribution of BP to HCD in Azerbaijan, raising the concern that the post-oil legacy of the company in terms of HCD will be very limited.

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