The contribution of human capital to economic development of nations has been the subject of several studies since the 1960s. However, updating the theme started in the second half of the '90s, with the examination of the role of entrepreneurship is the main contribution of this study. Thus, this article falls within the context of this update on a subject not explored in the academy at a reasonable extent. Therefore, this article investigates the influence of human capital and entrepreneurship on economic development. More specifically, the article analyzes the influence of the two variables on improving the quality of life of cities in the state of Ceará, Brazil. We gathered a database of social indicators, demographic, and economic infrastructure, of all 184 municipalities of Ceará. This secondary data was provided by the Instituto de Pesquisa e Estratégia Econômica do Ceará (Ipece) and the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). We setup three analytical techniques to confirm the hypotheses formulated based on published literature: factor analysis, regression analysis and structural equation model. The results supported the hypothesis that entrepreneurship in the state of Ceará has consisted only in an alternative possibility and not in a contribution to development and economic growth. Despite the limitations of the measure of entrepreneurial activity by self-employed workers, the results confirm findings from other studies: entrepreneurship may be diffe-rent, depending on the stage of development of the country (AGHION; HOWITT, 2005) and the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth rates is negative (BARROS; PEREIRA, 2008). As future research, it is suggested the construction of a model that includes other explanatory variables that implies in increasing the knowledge of the role of entrepreneurship and human capital development. Another possibility would be to extend the research by making comparisons with other states in the country and/or between countries, as well as replicating this study to other years.
Human capital; Entrepreneurship; Economic growth; Economic development; Ceará
