THE SOFT MODEL OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN CAPITAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN PODLASKIE REGION IN 1999 - 2007 (Model miekki zaleznosci miedzy kapitalem ludzkim a rozwojem gospodarczym w województwie podlaskim w latach 1999 - 2007)

The main aim of the article was to research the relationship between human capital, real capital, in- vestments in human capital and the level of economic development in Podlaskie Region. The realization of this aim was enabled by the use of a soft model which was estimated by means of partial least square method. The results of modeling showed that both human and real capital were positive and statistically significant correlated with the level of economic development of Podlaskie Region. Furthermore, human capital was stronger related to the level of economic development than real capital. Moreover, the relationship between investment in human capital and the stock of human capital was positive and statistically significant.