1. Introduction : Human capital: concept and measurement ; Objectives of the study ; The performance of the U.S. labor market over three decades: a backdrop ; Organization of the volume

2. Indicators of the nation's production capacity and utilization : Aggregate national productive capacity ; Private business capital stock ; Human capital stock ; Indicators of the utilization of capacity ; Summary of productive capacity and utilization patterns

3. The concept of human capital: a framework : The concept of human capital ; The annual flow of human capital outputs and costs: a social benefit and cost framework ; The aggregate value of the human capital stock

4. The concept of human capital: theoretical underpinnings and empirical estimates : Early literature on human capital: theoretical contributions ; The literature on human capital: empirical contributions ; Alternative estimates of the U.S. human capital stock

5. Earnings capacity as an indicator of human capital : The EC concept: assumptions and norms ; Why the EC indicator of human capital? ; The measurement of EC: a summary description ; The measurement of individual EC: a more formal statement ; Earning capacity in the context of the human capital framework

6. Aggregate EC, utilization, and the sources of nonuse: levels and trends, 1975-2000 : The nation's total EC: 1975-2000 ; Per capita EC in the United States: 1975-2000 ; The utilization of the nation's total EC: 1975-2000 ; The anatomy of unutilized human capital: 1975-2000

7. Earnings capacity and its utilization for race, education, and age groups: levels and trends, 1975-2000 : Average EC and CUR: racial patterns ; Average EC and CUR: schooling patterns ; Average EC and CUR: age patterns

8. Earnings capacity and its utilization for vulnerable groups: levels and trends, 1975-2000 : The level and trend of human capital of low-education youths ; The level and trend of human capital of low-education older workers ; Capacity utilization patterns among low-education youths ; Capacity utilization patterns among low-education older workers

9. Measuring levels, trends, and utilization of human capital: conclusions and policy insights : Earnings capacity as a human capital indicator ; Presumptions underlying the EC indicator ; Objectives and uses of the EC indicator ; A review of findings on human capital levels and utilization ; Some policy insights

Appendixes : A. The estimation of EC ; B. Tables ; C. Attribution of unrealized potential earnings to its sources.