AI-Enabled Human Capital, Productivity Transformation, and Firm Competitiveness: A Comparative Institutional Analysis of the United States and South Korea

Abstract

This article examines how artificial intelligence reshapes human capital development, organizational productivity, and firm competitiveness through a comparative institutional analysis of the United States and South Korea. The study argues that AI-driven productivity gains depend not only on technological adoption but also on complementary investments in skills, organizational redesign, governance capacity, and labor-market institutions. The United States and South Korea are selected because both represent advanced innovation economies with strong digital sectors, yet they differ in labor-market flexibility, education systems, corporate governance, industrial coordination, and workforce development regimes. Drawing on OECD, IMF, World Bank, corporate disclosures, labor productivity indicators, and contemporary management literature, the findings indicate that the United States demonstrates strong AI entrepreneurship, venture capital depth, and organizational experimentation, while South Korea exhibits stronger industrial coordination, manufacturing integration, and skills-based technology diffusion. However, both economies face constraints involving skill polarization, algorithmic governance, productivity inequality, and uneven adoption among SMEs. The article contributes to business and economics scholarship by developing a governance-centered framework linking AI capability, human capital formation, organizational adaptation, and productivity resilience. The findings suggest that AI becomes a sustainable source of competitive advantage only when firms and institutions align technological innovation with workforce upgrading, ethical governance, and inclusive productivity strategies