	A human capital contract (or "HCC") is a finance product that allows for the provision of funds to an individual through an "equity-like" arrangement, where the provider of the funds receives a portion of the individual's future income for some specified period of time. Human capital contracts have been advocated by a number of Nobel Prize–winning economists, including Milton Friedman, Robert Merton, and Gary Becker. Adam Smith in "The Wealth of Nations" described the knowledge and skills of workers as a form of human capital.