Experience Capital, Peakspan & Workspan
External empirical finding · Contextual · 2022
MGI defines experience capital as the share of lifetime earnings linked to skills learned through work
Using approximately four million de-identified work histories from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and India, MGI estimated the share of lifetime earnings associated with skills learned through work experience. The average estimated shares were 40% in the United States, 43% in Germany and the United Kingdom, and 58% in India.
Research basis
Economic and labor-market analysis. Approximately four million de-identified work histories from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and India.
What it supports
Prior public use of the term and the proposition that work experience builds economically valuable skills.
Boundary
This is an earnings-based analytical construct derived partly from proprietary career-history data. It is not a direct measure of accumulated knowledge, judgment, relationships, or deployable executive capability. BOL uses Experience Capital differently.
BOL relevance
Establishes intellectual lineage. BOL gives Experience Capital a distinct role in its Workspan model and does not claim ownership of the underlying phrase.
Source class
Consulting or industry research
Role in BOL
Contextual
Population context
Employed adults
Evidence basis
Modeled or estimated from proprietary career-history data
Sample
Approximately four million work histories
Endpoint
Modeled share of lifetime earnings associated with skills learned through work experience
Full source review pending. Status last assessed 26 July 2026.