Description: Topic: Human capital in terms of competencies and health outcomes Research question: What is the relationship between competencies, in particular problem solving skills, and the general health status? Abstract: Human capital is considered an important factor in developing individual and societal well-being (OECD, 2001). This paper focuses on the impact of human capital in terms of competencies on personal well-being, in particular health. Within the last decade a number of empirical studies have identified reading literacy as a potential pathway linking years of schooling to health outcomes (Weiss, 2005; Wolf et al., 2005). Indeed reading literacy can be looked at as an important factor with regard to collecting and processing health related knowledge and information. However, as information on health proliferates, the complexity of health care systems rises, and new treatments increasingly require regular self-monitoring and self-medication, a wider range of competencies are likely to be important for autonomous health management (Rychen & Salganik, Eds. 2003). There is a broad consensus among scholars and experts that basic skills (such as reading) and recalling accumulated knowledge are necessary prerequisites but insufficient for coping with many of the complex and varying demands in today's information and knowledge society. Dealing with novelty, change, and diversity and coping in a responsible way with many of today's challenges require the development of a higher level of mental complexity (Kegan, 2001). Problem solving defined as "goal-directed thinking and action in situations for which no routine solution procedure is available" (Statistics Canada & OECD, 2005) can be considered as a critical cognitive skill domain. Problem solving is one of the four competence areas measured in the international Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL). Since ALL includes also information on the population's general health status it is possible, for the first time, to explore the interrelationship between problem solving skills and health in a broader context. This analysis contributes to a better understanding of the impact of human capital in terms of competencies on health outcomes. Theoretical framework: The paper refers, in particular, to the conceptual and theoretical work on the definition and selection of key competencies (Rychen & Salganik, Eds. 2001, 2003; DeSeCo: www.deseco.admin.ch) and the conceptual underpinning of the International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (Murray, Clermont & Binkley, Eds. 2005). Further, the results of the ongoing research on social outcomes of learning carried out under the lead of OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation will be taken into account. Methodology: Data: International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/all/) Method: Cross-sectional analysis, adequate multivariate analysis Conclusions: It is expected that problem solving has a significant impact on health, even under control for socio-economic status, parents' education, and other relevant socio-demographic variables.