Wallman contends the gap is best explained by the effects of intellectual capital. The assets that make up a company's market value are human and intangible - not picked up by traditional ways government economists measure growth and productivity. Private sector firms invest in human intellectual capital by allocating budgets to research and development and in employee training. Human capital variables are used primarily to justify legitimate differences between groups of individuals in pay and wage rates. Even the government pays homage to the human intellectual capital principle.
Educated workers are more productive and valuable than less well educated workers are.
A good education is just one human intellectual capital variable. Other examples are work experience, and the knowledge area in which a worker in the labor force is trained. When the labor market has been unable to provide U.S. workers with a good education, firms have attempted to locate educated workers elsewhere. Usually, from overseas labor markets. Identifying the expense a firm allocates in obtaining its supply of human intellectual capital is not being reported for statistical purposes.