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Does training benefit those who do not get any? Elasticities of complementarity and factor price in South Africa

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Alberto Behar

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Abstract

Commentators claim that a shortage of skills in South Africa is constraining output and that a rise in skill supply would benefit less skilled occupations. This assumes or implies skilled and unskilled labour are complements. Hicks Elasticities of Complementarity and elasticities of factor price are estimated between capital and five occupations. The results show that skilled/artisanal and unskilled labour are complements while semi-skilled and unskilled labour are substitutes. These results allow for imperfectly elastic product demand, rigid wages and inference on highly non-linear elasticities. Aggregated estimates suggest More skilled labour complements Less skilled labour.

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Paper provided by University of Oxford, Department of Economics in its series Economics Series Working Papers with number 244.

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Date of creation: 2005
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Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:244

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Keywords: Hicks Elasticity of Complementarity South Africa Training Skill

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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    Other versions:
  6. Binswanger, Hans P, 1974. "The Measurement of Technical Change Biases with Many Factors of Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(6), pages 964-76, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. H. Bhorat & J. Hodge, 1999. "Decomposing Shifts in Labour Demand in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 67(3), pages 155-168, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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