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Tradable and nontradable directed technical change

Author

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  • Óscar Afonso

    (Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia, OBEGEF, and CEFAGE-UBI.)

  • Tiago Sequeira

    (Universidade da Beira Interior, Departamento de Gestão e Economia and CEFAGE-UBI)

Abstract

We wish to reconcile the major trends in wages and the terms of trade using a directed technical change approach in which: (i) tradable and nontradable goods can be substitutes or complements; and (ii) scale eects can be present or can be partially or totally removed. With a lower skilled labor ratio and a higher relative wage in the tradable sector, the price (real exchange rate or terms of trade) mechanism is crucial in determining sectoral productivity dierences and thus wage inequality. Along the balanced growth path (BGP), the real exchange rate can be negatively related with the relative advantage to entry through horizontal innovation and with the relative labor level, depending on scale eects. The wage premium increases due to an increase in the relative labor level in the nontradable sector under substitutability with scale eects or under complementarity without scale eects. A calibrated version of the model indicates that the model replicates closely the data on wages for Germany. Moreover, as substitutability increases, the nontradable technological-knowledge bias, which drives wages, rises, while the nontradable relative price and nontradable value of knowledge decrease.

Suggested Citation

  • Óscar Afonso & Tiago Sequeira, 2017. "Tradable and nontradable directed technical change," CEFAGE-UE Working Papers 2017_02, University of Evora, CEFAGE-UE (Portugal).
    • Handle: RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2017_02
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Directed technological change; substitutability; scale effects; relative prices; wage premium; economic growth.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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