IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/dyncon/v40y2014icp154-178.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Vintage human capital and learning curves

Author

Listed:
  • Kredler, Matthias

Abstract

I study a vintage-human-capital model in which long-lived workers accumulate human capital following an exogenous learning curve. Different skill levels inside a vintage are complementary in production; this makes the ex ante homogeneous workers enter different vintages. The continuous-time framework allows me to study the timing decision for the technology phase-out differentially and to derive sharp characterization for wages and the distribution of workers in the dying technology. I show how to posit and solve a planner's problem and construct equilibrium in this way. Consistent with empirical evidence, I show that the experience premium is always positive but diminishes as a technology ages. The connection between workers' learning curves and the technology's progress curve is characterized.

Suggested Citation

  • Kredler, Matthias, 2014. "Vintage human capital and learning curves," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 154-178.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:dyncon:v:40:y:2014:i:c:p:154-178
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jedc.2014.01.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165188914000128
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jedc.2014.01.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2008. "Financially constrained capital investments: The effects of disembodied and embodied technological progress," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(5-6), pages 459-483, April.
    2. Parente Stephen L., 1994. "Technology Adoption, Learning-by-Doing, and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 346-369, August.
    3. Malcomson, James M., 1975. "Replacement and the rental value of capital equipment subject to obsolescence," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 24-41, February.
    4. Raouf Boucekkine & Fernando Del Río & Omar Licandro, 2003. "Embodied Technological Change, Learning‐by‐doing and the Productivity Slowdown," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 105(1), pages 87-98, March.
    5. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2006. "Capital accumulation under technological progress and learning: A vintage capital approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(1), pages 293-310, July.
    6. Jovanovic, Boyan & Nyarko, Yaw, 1996. "Learning by Doing and the Choice of Technology," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1299-1310, November.
    7. Galor, Oded & Tsiddon, Daniel, 1997. "Technological Progress, Mobility, and Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 363-382, June.
    8. Boucekkine, Raouf & Hritonenko, Natali & Yatsenko, Yuri, 2011. "Scarcity, regulation and endogenous technical progress," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 186-199, March.
    9. Boucekkine, Raouf & Germain, Marc & Licandro, Omar, 1997. "Replacement Echoes in the Vintage Capital Growth Model," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 333-348, June.
    10. John M. Abowd & Francis Kramarz & David N. Margolis, 1999. "High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 67(2), pages 251-334, March.
    11. Giovanni L. Violante, 2002. "Technological Acceleration, Skill Transferability, and the Rise in Residual Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 297-338.
    12. Thompson, Peter, 2010. "Learning by Doing," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 429-476, Elsevier.
    13. Cooley, Thomas F. & Greenwood, Jeremy & Yorukoglu, Mehmet, 1997. "The replacement problem," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 457-499, December.
    14. Cagri Saglam & Vladimir M. Veliov, 2008. "Role of Endogenous Vintage Specific Depreciation in the Optimal Behavior of Firms," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 4(3), pages 381-410, September.
    15. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2006. "Anticipation effects of technological progress on capital accumulation: a vintage capital approach," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 143-164, January.
    16. Boucekkine, Raouf & del Rio, Fernando & Licandro, Omar, 1999. "Endogenous vs Exogenously Driven Fluctuations in Vintage Capital Models," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 161-187, September.
    17. Emilio Barucci & Fausto Gozzi, 2001. "Technology adoption and accumulation in a vintage-capital model," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 1-38, February.
    18. R. M. Solow & J. Tobin & C. C. Weizsäcker & M. Yaari, 1971. "Neoclassical Growth with Fixed Factor Proportions," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 9, pages 68-102, Palgrave Macmillan.
    19. Boyan Jovanovic, 1998. "Vintage Capital and Inequality," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(2), pages 497-530, April.
    20. Benhabib, Jess & Rustichini, Aldo, 1991. "Vintage capital, investment, and growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 323-339, December.
    21. Jovanovic, Boyan & Yatsenko, Yuri, 2012. "Investment in vintage capital," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 147(2), pages 551-569.
    22. Claudio Michelacci & Vincenzo Quadrini, 2009. "Financial Markets and Wages," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(2), pages 795-827.
    23. James J. Heckman & Lance J. Lochner & Petra E. Todd, 2003. "Fifty Years of Mincer Earnings Regressions," NBER Working Papers 9732, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. N. Hritonenko & Yu. Yatsenko, 2005. "Turnpike and Optimal Trajectories in Integral Dynamic Models with Endogenous Delay," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 109-127, October.
    25. Kredler, Matthias, 2014. "Experience vs. obsolescence: A vintage-human-capital model," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 709-739.
    26. Yoram Ben-Porath, 1967. "The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle of Earnings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(4), pages 352-352.
    27. Chari, V V & Hopenhayn, Hugo, 1991. "Vintage Human Capital, Growth, and the Diffusion of New Technology," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(6), pages 1142-1165, December.
    28. Barucci, Emilio & Gozzi, Fausto, 1998. "Investment in a vintage capital model," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 159-188, June.
    29. van Hilten, Onno, 1991. "The optimal lifetime of capital equipment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 449-454, December.
    30. Prskawetz, Alexia & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2007. "Age-specific dynamic labor demand and human capital investment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 3741-3777, December.
    31. Goetz, Renan-Ulrich & Hritonenko, Natali & Yatsenko, Yuri, 2008. "The optimal economic lifetime of vintage capital in the presence of operating costs, technological progress, and learning," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 3032-3053, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joye Khoo & Adrian (Wai Kong) Cheung, 2024. "Vintage capital and trade credit," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(1), pages 507-537, March.
    2. Natali Hritonenko & Nobuyuki Kato & Yuri Yatsenko, 2017. "Optimal Control of Investments in Old and New Capital Under Improving Technology," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 247-266, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Raouf Boucekkine & David De la Croix & Omar Licandro, 2011. "Vintage Capital Growth Theory: Three Breakthroughs," Working Papers 565, Barcelona School of Economics.
    2. Gamboa, Franklin & Maldonado, Wilfredo Leiva, 2014. "Feasibility and optimality of the initial capital stock in the Ramsey vintage capital model," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 40-45.
    3. Yu. Yatsenko & N. Hritonenko, 2007. "Network economics and optimal replacement of age-structured IT capital," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 65(3), pages 483-497, June.
    4. Cagri Saglam & Vladimir M. Veliov, 2008. "Role of Endogenous Vintage Specific Depreciation in the Optimal Behavior of Firms," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 4(3), pages 381-410, September.
    5. Raouf Boucekkine & David Croix & Omar Licandro, 2004. "MODELLING VINTAGE STRUCTURES WITH DDEs: PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS," Mathematical Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3-4), pages 151-179.
    6. Boucekkine, Raouf & Hritonenko, Natali & Yatsenko, Yuri, 2011. "Scarcity, regulation and endogenous technical progress," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 186-199, March.
    7. Raouf Boucekkine & Natali Hritonenko & Yuri Yatsenko, "undated". "Optimal Firm Behavior under Environmental Constraints," Working Papers 2008_11, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    8. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2006. "Anticipation effects of technological progress on capital accumulation: a vintage capital approach," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 143-164, January.
    9. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2008. "Financially constrained capital investments: The effects of disembodied and embodied technological progress," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(5-6), pages 459-483, April.
    10. Faggian, Silvia & Gozzi, Fausto & Kort, Peter M., 2021. "Optimal investment with vintage capital: Equilibrium distributions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    11. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2006. "Capital accumulation under technological progress and learning: A vintage capital approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(1), pages 293-310, July.
    12. Boucekkine, Raouf & Licandro, Omar & Paul, Christopher, 1997. "Differential-difference equations in economics: On the numerical solution of vintage capital growth models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 21(2-3), pages 347-362.
    13. Natali Hritonenko & Yuri Yatsenko, 2008. "From Linear to Nonlinear Utility in Vintage Capital Models," Mathematical Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 230-248.
    14. BOUCEKKINE, Raouf & DE LA CROIX, David & LICANDRO, Omar, 2006. "Vintage capital," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2006024, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    15. Boucekkine, Raouf & Germain, Marc & Licandro, Omar, 1997. "Replacement Echoes in the Vintage Capital Growth Model," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 333-348, June.
    16. Kredler, Matthias, 2014. "Experience vs. obsolescence: A vintage-human-capital model," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 709-739.
    17. David J Deming & Kadeem Noray, 2020. "Earnings Dynamics, Changing Job Skills, and STEM Careers," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(4), pages 1965-2005.
    18. Goetz, Renan-Ulrich & Hritonenko, Natali & Yatsenko, Yuri, 2008. "The optimal economic lifetime of vintage capital in the presence of operating costs, technological progress, and learning," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 3032-3053, September.
    19. Fabbri, Giorgio & Gozzi, Fausto, 2008. "Solving optimal growth models with vintage capital: The dynamic programming approach," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 331-373, November.
    20. Motamedi, N. & Reza Peyghami, M. & Hadizadeh, M., 2013. "A mixed integer nonlinear programming model for the optimal repair–replacement in the firm," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 366-371.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vintage human capital; Tenure-wage profiles; Learning curve; Infinite-dimensional state space; Lagrange-multiplier theorem;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:dyncon:v:40:y:2014:i:c:p:154-178. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jedc .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.