The concept of human capital is being actualized in the conditions of global turbulence. Both classics of political economy and modern economic scientists have significantly contributed to the conceptualization of human capital over the centuries. In the period of global uncertainty and the transformation of economic relations, one can notice the lack of a specific approach to the concept. In the global economy, human capital plays a role that determines and reveals the true causes of various economic and social phenomena. Economists consider human capital as a category of economic science, which is at the origins of economic well-being and development. The purpose of this study is to explicate various approaches to the study of the concept of human capital that can have a significant impact on further research. The article reviews and attempts to categorize theoretical interpretations of the concept of human capital. When writing the article, the method of retrospective analysis of research on the concept of human capital was used to categorize various schools and directions. The analysis allowed us to identify four main categories of approaches in research on human capital. Based on this, the authors noted the need to introduce semantic additions to the concept, considering modern realities. Based on the results obtained, the authors attempted to conceptualize human capital in the latest conditions. The analysis carried out in the article showed that the study of the concept of human capital requires a modern interpretation, including all previous theoretical developments and new aspects related to the requirements of the time.

In the context of global digitalization, the main resource for ensuring the competitiveness of states is a person. Today, the prevailing opinion in the scientific and public environment is that intellectual capital has a higher price than property capital. The experience of foreign countries in the management of human capital development aroused scientific interest when writing this article. The relevance of the study is due to the need to increase the main criteria for the development of state development strategies at the global level, in particular, the level of innovative and social development, improving the competitiveness of the country’s economy. The purpose of the research work is to identify the relationship between intellectualization, digitalization, economic development and the development of human capital by countries, as well as to determine the role of human capital as a tool for implementing government strategies. The research paper analyzes the world practice of managing the development of human capital on the basis of data presented in current publications of international organizations, in particular the United Nations Development Program for Human Development, the International Monetary Fund, the Imperative of Social Progress, the World Economic Forum, etc., as well as in studies of indexed rating journals.