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Biased Technical Change and Capital-Labour Substitution in Finland, 1902-2003

Author

Listed:
  • Jalava Jukka

    (Pellervo Economic Research Institute)

  • Pohjola Matti

    (Helsinki School of Economics)

  • Ripatti Antti

    (Bank of Finland)

  • Vilmunen Jouko

    (Bank of Finland)

Abstract

The paper argues that a Cobb-Douglas specification may be a reasonable description of the Finnish aggregate production function when a sufficiently long time period (the 20th century) is considered. It is, however, a misleading description of the production technology for the post-WWII period. Controlling for biased technical change, the elasticity of substitution is significantly below one, close to 0.5, during 1945-2003. Given that similar results have been obtained for the U.S. economy, the analysis shows that the value of the elasticity of substitution cannot be dependent on some specific structure of economic institutions but is likely to reflect more general aspects of technology and production.

Suggested Citation

  • Jalava Jukka & Pohjola Matti & Ripatti Antti & Vilmunen Jouko, 2006. "Biased Technical Change and Capital-Labour Substitution in Finland, 1902-2003," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejmac:v:topics.6:y:2006:i:1:n:8
    DOI: 10.2202/1534-5998.1328
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sánchez, Marcelo, 2010. "Wage restraint and monetary union," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 134-142, January.
    2. Tamminen, Saara & Tuomaala, Eljas, 2012. "Variation in price and substitution elasticities between sectors – A microdata analysis," Working Papers 34, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Aamer S. Abu-Qarn & Suleiman Abu-Bader, 2009. "Getting Income Shares Right," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 23(3), pages 254-266, August.
    4. Jeroen Klijs & Jack Peerlings & Wim Heijman, 2017. "Introducing labour productivity changes into models used for economic impact analysis in tourism," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(3), pages 561-576, May.
    5. Jakub Growiec & Peter McAdam & Jakub Mućk, 2021. "On the Optimal Labor Income Share," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 17(70), pages 1-52, October.
    6. Growiec, Jakub & McAdam, Peter & Mućk, Jakub, 2018. "Endogenous labor share cycles: Theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 74-93.
    7. Bengtsson, Erik & Waldenström, Daniel, 2018. "Capital Shares and Income Inequality: Evidence from the Long Run," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(3), pages 712-743, September.
    8. Ricardo Mourinho Félix & Vanda Almeida, 2006. "Computing Potential Output and the Output Gap for the Portuguese Economy," Economic Bulletin and Financial Stability Report Articles and Banco de Portugal Economic Studies, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    9. López, Ramón & Islam, Asif, 2011. "Fiscal spending for economic growth in the presence of imperfect markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 8709, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Francesco Venturini, 2009. "The long-run impact of ICT," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 497-515, December.
    11. Antoszewski, Michal, 2017. "Panel estimation of sectoral substitution elasticities for CES production functions," MF Working Papers 28, Ministry of Finance in Poland.
    12. Werner Holzl, 2010. "Was there a Marxian bias in Austrian manufacturing? Evidence on the direction of technical change, 1978-1994," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 35-56.
    13. Kuusi, Tero, 2018. "Does the structural budget balance guide fiscal policy pro-cyclically? Evidence from the Finnish Great Depression of the 1990s," MPRA Paper 84829, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Małgorzata Gawrycka & Aneta Sobiechowska-Ziegert & Anna Szymczak, 2012. "The Impact of Technological and Structural Changes in the National Economy on the Labour-Capital Relations," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 6(1), March.
    15. Honkatukia, Juha, 2013. "The VATTAGE Regional Model VERM - A Dynamic, Regional, Applied General Equilibrium Model of the Finn," Research Reports 171, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    16. Jakub Mućk & Peter McAdam & Jakub Growiec, 2018. "Will The “True” Labor Share Stand Up? An Applied Survey On Labor Share Measures," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 961-984, September.
    17. Sánchez, Marcelo, 2009. "National prices and wage setting in a currency union," Working Paper Series 1058, European Central Bank.
    18. Mello, Marcelo de Albuquerque e, 2017. "Another Look at Panel Estimates of the Elasticity of Substitution between Capital and Labor," Brazilian Review of Econometrics, Sociedade Brasileira de Econometria - SBE, vol. 37(2), November.

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