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Getting Growth Accounting Right

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Abstract

Variation in factor shares, extensively documented in recent years, implies that standard growth accounting exercises are plagued by measurement issues. First, the standard assumption of constant shares generates a bias in the estimation of the contribution of factors to economic growth. Second, the effect that changes in factor shares have on output depends on the relative abundance of factors and, for this reason, having correct units of measurement for all factors is imperative. We perform a growth accounting exercise that incorporates factor share variation and solves the measurement issue. Results suggest that (i) the correct units of measurement are significantly lower than standard ones for the stocks of physical, natural and human capital per worker (ii) changes in factor shares have an important effect on the growth rates of income per worker for several countries and (iii) the marginal productivity of all factors is positively correlated with per worker income.

Suggested Citation

  • Hernando Zuleta, 2015. "Getting Growth Accounting Right," Documentos CEDE 13814, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:013814
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. ¿Cómo se produce y cómo se distribuye el ingreso? Por Hernando Zuleta
      by Hernando Zuleta in Foco Económico on 2015-10-21 02:00:10

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    Cited by:

    1. Andrés O. Dávila & Manuel Fernández & Hernando Zuleta, 2021. "The Natural Resource Boom and The Uneven Fall of The Labor Share," Documentos CEDE 19427, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    2. Tiago Sequeira & Hugo Morão, 2020. "Growth accounting and regressions: New approach and results," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 162, pages 67-79.
    3. Yinhao Wu & Enru Wang & Changhong Miao, 2019. "Fertilizer Use in China: The Role of Agricultural Support Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-23, August.
    4. Feder, Christophe, 2018. "The effects of disruptive innovations on productivity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 186-193.
    5. Villar Otálora, Juan Camilo, 2021. "Una revisión sobre los métodos convencionales de la contabilidad del crecimiento: La tiranía de la identidad [A review of the conventional methods of growth accounting: The tyranny of identity]," MPRA Paper 106683, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Factor Shares; Production Function; Measurement; Growth Accounting; Productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • 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
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution

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