Human capital, aggregation, and growth
Abstract
The famous Mincer equation regressing log earnings on years of schooling is derived from a linear human capital accumulation equation at the individual level. Even if the cross-sectional Mincer equation holds at the level of individuals, it does not hold at the macro level of countries because aggregation of human capital has to take into account its vintage structure:human capital is embodied in people of different generations whose lifespan is finite. Finiteness of people's lives imposes also a limit on the potential of human capital accumulation to drive aggregate economic growth. Aggregate human capital accumulation may however become an engine of growth thanks to human capital externalities (knowledge spillovers). We use these findings to revisit the assumptions of the well-known Uzawa-Lucas growth model from an aggregation perspective.Download Info
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Paper provided by Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE) in its series CORE Discussion Papers with number 2007056.Length:
Date of creation: 01 Aug 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cor:louvco:2007056
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Keywords: human capital accumulation; Mincer equation; aggregation; vintage structure; balanced growth;Other versions of this item:
- Growiec, Jakub, 2010. "Human Capital, Aggregation, And Growth," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(02), pages 189-211, April.
- Growiec, Jakub, 2007. "Human Capital, Aggregation, and Growth," MPRA Paper 7070, University Library of Munich, Germany.
- I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
- J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- O40 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Jakub Growiec & Christian Groth, 2012.
"On aggregating human capital across heterogeneous cohorts,"
National Bank of Poland Working Papers
134, National Bank of Poland, Economic Institute.
- Jakub Growiec & Christian Groth, 2012. "On aggregating human capital across heterogeneous cohorts," Discussion Papers 12-13, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
- Growiec, Jakub, 2007.
"Human Capital, Aggregation, and Growth,"
MPRA Paper
7070, University Library of Munich, Germany.
- Growiec, Jakub, 2010. "Human Capital, Aggregation, And Growth," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(02), pages 189-211, April.
- GROWIEC, Jakub, 2007. "Human capital, aggregation, and growth," CORE Discussion Papers 2007056, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
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