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Fisher Data Standards For Living Capital
- 1. Data Standards for Living Human, Social, and Natural Capital Conference on Entrepreneurship and Human Rights Fordham University August 1-3, 2005 William P. Fisher, Jr., Ph.D. MetaMetrics, Inc. Durham, NC, USA
- 2. The Main Points Dead capital vs. living capital Capital is brought to life when it is abstractly additive, divisible, and mobile Human, social, and natural capital measured with tests, surveys, and assessments can be brought to life via mathematically rigorous scaling techniques Metrology systems are needed to nurture living capital to maturity to provide the institutional capacity for individuals to realize their fullest potentials Living capital magnifies individual creativity to a distributed, collective level
- 3. Living Capital The root metaphor L. capitus , head Live stock Natural growth Biological reproduction Wild as well as domesticated stocks Cycles of nature Little or no human intervention
- 4. Living Capital Resolving the mystery of capital (De Soto) Dead capital Not represented in titles or deeds Not abstractly transferable Not recognized in courts or banks Requires acting on the concrete thing itself Cannot be used as collateral to secure business loans
- 5. Resolving the mystery of capital (De Soto) Living capital Represented in titles and deeds Abstractly transferable Recognized in courts and banks Can be divided into shares without acting on the thing itself Can be added up across properties without acting on the thing itself Can be used as collateral to secure business loans Living Capital
- 6. Expanding the economic model Three capitals model Land Labor Manufactured Linear unsustainability Burn resources Take short-term profit Living Capital
- 7. Four capitals model Manufactured Natural Watershed services Estuary services Fisheries Forest products Social Trust Good will Human Health Skills Motivations Living Capital Circular, spiraling sustainability Reduced waste = wealth Management is stewardship Economic democracy
- 8. The Question of Measurement Or, what would transferable representations of human, social, and natural capital look like? Or, how do we bring human, social, and natural capital to life, economically? Or, how do we make it abstractly mobile, additive, and divisible?
- 9. Well, how did we make manufactured capital and property come to life in the first place? Geometry of surveys and blueprints Metrology of scientific capital (Latour, Science in Action , 1987) Additivity Divisibility Mobility The Question of Measurement
- 10. The Question of Measurement Consider length Unit amounts add up in same way numbers do Unit amounts can be divided into equal parts Units are abstract Lengths of different things can be added together Any one length can be divided infinitely Units are mobile Across particular rulers Across particular things measured Across person measuring Across time, space, etc.
- 11. The Question of Measurement |<----- same amount of length ------->| The units are different sizes, but the same amount of length is measured.
- 12. The Question of Measurement
- 13. The Question of Measurement Living manufactured capital stocks are typically measured using scientifically engineered and maintained additive, divisible, and mobile units of measurement Length by length = area (square kilometers, hectares) Volume (barrels, bushels, liters) Mass (metric tons) Time Kilowatts and kilowatt hours Temperature Measurement standards are widely recognized for their essential value in facilitating trade Improved measurement precision creates opportunities for enhanced economic performance
- 14. The Question of Measurement Human, social, and natural capital stocks, in contrast, are typically measured using tests, surveys, and assessments featuring measuring units that do not add up, cannot be divided into ever-smaller equal intervals, and vary in size across instruments, samples, users, time, space, etc. Universal uniform measurement of human, social, and natural capital is virtually unknown The economies of education and health care (not to speak of human rights) accordingly suffer, as they lack standard product definitions, effective quality improvement practices, and the value-added efficiencies focused research can bring
- 15. But are we forever doomed to existence with only dead forms of human, social, and natural capital? Perhaps not. The Question of Measurement
- 16. The Question of Measurement
- 17. The Question of Measurement Measures from two sets of entirely different survey items, both with .90 reliability, measuring same Quality of Educational Services construct on same sample r = .93
- 18. The Question of Measurement Correlations among 11 calibrations of 8 similar items included on 4 clinical assessments of physical functioning: mean r = 0.93, mode = 0.98 Fisher, W. P., Jr. (1997). Physical disability construct convergence across instruments: Towards a universal metric. Journal of Outcome Measurement , 1 (2), 87-113.
- 19. The Problem , Part I Third World and former Communist nations economies are encumbered with Dead manufactured capital and property Difficulty obtaining titles/deeds Lack of transparency/accountability Low social capital (trust, good will) Need for infrastructural capacities
- 20. The Problem, Part II All nations economies are encumbered with Dead human, social, and natural (HSN) capital No systems for representing HSN capital Lack of HSN capital transparency/accountability Low social capital (trust, good will) relative to HSN capital representations (tests, surveys) Need for infrastructural capacities (metrology systems)
- 21. The Problems are the Same Dead capital can be brought to life but it needs clear conceptualizations, systematically created and universally available supportive environments to grow in, and loving care and nurturing of every individual owner of living capital resource stocks.
- 22. What to do? Expand the existing metrology infrastructure to include measures of human, social, and natural capital, requiring that all instruments measuring the same thing do so in the same universal uniform metric, open architectures that allow and encourage metrological quality improvements, that the needs of as many stakeholders as possible be met, the same kinds of checks on the stability of the metrics as are in use in the Systeme Internationale , and that the measures can be aggregated for use in managing each significant economic level and sector.
- 23. What to do? Identify what needs to be measured What are the key forms of capital to be managed? Human Social Natural What experiments have already tested the key forms of capital for additivity, divisibility, and mobility?
- 24. What to do? Design tests, surveys, and assessments to measure what needs to be managed Design instruments so that data will meet the mathematically rigorous requirements of additivity, divisibility, and mobility Rasch models (http://www.rasch.org) Widely accessible software Widely published methods, research Widely available consultants, conferences
- 25. The Wisdom of Crowds Common language facilitates magnification of individual thinking to social level Mathematical clarity of that language effects firm connection with reality Consistent and widely available information on capital investments and returns motivates attentive stewardship of human, social, and natural resources
- 26. Economic impact of U.S. NIST metrological research in the semiconductor & optical industries Conductivity of semiconductors 63% Wire bonding of semiconductor components 140% Electrical resistance of semiconductors 181% Electromigration in interconnects 117% Optical fiber 423% Spectral radiometry 145%
- 27. Economic impact of U.S. NIST metrological research in computer systems Real-time control system architecture 149% Integrated services digital network 156% Software conformance testing 41%
- 28. Economic impact of U.S. NIST metrological research in calibration and testing industries Electromagnetic interference 266% Power & energy calibration services 428% Coordinate measuring machines 97%
- 29. Metric System Proposed by Gabriel Mouton about 1670 Developed between 1790 and 1840 Replaced variable local and regional metrics across Europe
- 30. Metric System Is it just an accident of history that the emergence of the metric system coincided with the: French & American Revolutions? 2d Scientific Revolution? Industrial Revolution? Or is there something essential about metric uniformity that facilitates democracy, science, and capital growth?
- 31. In conclusion Dead capital vs. living capital Capital is brought to life when it is abstractly additive, divisible, and mobile Human, social, and natural capital measured with tests, surveys, and assessments can be brought to life via mathematically rigorous scaling techniques Metrology systems are needed to nurture living capital to maturity to provide the institutional capacity for individuals to realize their fullest potentials Living capital magnifies individual creativity to a distributed, collective level
Editor's Notes
- #2: Apologize in advance for presuming to be able to speak about issues outside of my area of expertise. Stress the organic, non-reductionistic nature of the approach, then give brief resume.