El Capital Humano como Estrategia Competitiva en el Sector Turı ´stico Espan ˜ol By Adelaida Ban˜uls. Palma. Universitat de les Illes Balears (http://edicions.uib.es) 2009, 109 pp. (figures, tables) 12€. ISBN: 978-84-8384-125-9. Anto ´nia Correia CEFAGE, University of Algarve, Portugal This book will be of interest to scholars and policy-makers who strive for in- sights on competitiveness in tourism. The author contributes to the tourism lit- erature by bringing to light a well-organised and relevant piece of original research underpinned by the human capital theory. Moreover, this book has the merit of presenting insights based on Spain, one the world’s leading tourism destinations. This book tackles fundamental elements of an ongoing debate on the role of training and education for the enhancement of tourism industry’s competitiveness. Although there is an obvious lack of critical thinking concern- ing the application of human capital theory and this embodies the leading weak- ness in this book. One of the best elements of this book is the structure: three parts with six chapters. Chapter I explores the linkages between human capital and theories of competitiveness. This is followed by Chapter 2 where the preposition of hu- man capital as a strategic factor is further deepened. In Part II the author reviews the relationship between income, education, and experience based on Mincer’s work (1974). Chapter 3 discusses the theories of human capital; particularly Spence’s signaling theory (1973) and Arrow’s filter theory (1973). The following chapter explores the income returns from investment in education concluding that education enhances competitiveness through higher productivity. Here, the author raises some relevant research questions; however a original and clear-cut research avenue is weak because the empirical evidence presented is a basically reproduction of Mincer’s function that has already been tested by a significant number of authors. Part 3 presents empirical findings. The relationship between education and experience is modeled in Chapter 5. Having controlled for relevant variables— e.g., firms´ size and type of contract—the author reports a lower income-education relationship in the tourism sector than for other services. In chapter 6, the author carries out a fine-grained analysis by looking at the heterogeneity of the income- education relationship. The analysis points out a disadvantageous situation for employees in the food and hospitality sector because the income-education rela- tionship is lower than in others activities. Research also shows that the length of employees’ tenure amplifies the income-education relationship. Looking at Spanish regions, employees in the areas of Madrid, Andalucı ´a and Baleares have greater returns—i.e., income—for years of education. Furthermore, data suggest employees who preferred professional instruction over university education receive higher returns for their qualifications than university-trained employees. However, individuals holding professional qualifications suffer a depreciation of the human Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 517–519, 2012 Printed in Great Britain Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 503–522 517