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Does Inertia Pay Off? Empirical assessment of an evolutionary-ecological model of human capital decisions at firm level

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Author Info
Aurora Teixeira () (CEMPRE, Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto)

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Abstract

This paper empirically assesses the validity of a model which combines organisational ecology and evolutionary theory to analyse human capital accumulation decisions at firm level. The main argument of the model is that factors underlying the process of plants’ reproduction, especially the process of fission, must be isolated and related to the economic motivations of employers to hire top educated and highly skilled people. Inert behaviour in human capital accumulation decisions stands here as a rational outcome. Logistic estimates, based on the whole population of plants of the Portuguese textiles, provide statistical evidence corroborating the fission hypothesis. This evidence constitutes a critical examination of the mainstream economics concerning the demand side of human capital.

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Paper provided by Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto in its series FEP Working Papers with number 124.

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Length: 39 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2003
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:por:fepwps:124

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Related research
Keywords: Human capital; population ecology theory; evolutionary theory; Inertia; Fission; textiles; Portugal;

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Zvi Griliches, 1996. "Education, Human Capital, and Growth: A Personal Perspective," NBER Working Papers 5426, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Griliches, Zvi, 1969. "Capital-Skill Complementarity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 51(4), pages 465-68, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Boyan Jovanovic, 2001. "Fitness and Age: Review of Carroll and Hannan's Demography of Corporations and Industries," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(1), pages 105-119, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70, pages 9. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. David, Paul A, 1985. "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 332-37, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Psacharopoulos, George, 1996. "Economics of education: A research agenda," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 339-344, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Richard R. Nelson & Edmond S. Phelps, 1965. "Investment in Humans, Technological Diffusion and Economic Growth," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 189, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  8. Card, David & Lemieux, Thomas, 1996. "Wage dispersion, returns to skill, and black-white wage differentials," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 319-361, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Katz, Lawrence F & Murphy, Kevin M, 1992. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963-1987: Supply and Demand Factors," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(1), pages 35-78, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Erlich, Isaac, 1990. "The Problem of Development: Introduction," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages S1-11, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Mincer, Jacob, 1996. " Economic Development, Growth of Human Capital, and the Dynamics of the Wage Structure," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 29-48, March.
  12. Arthur, W Brian, 1989. "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(394), pages 116-31, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Richard R. Nelson, 1995. "Recent Evolutionary Theorizing about Economic Change," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 48-90, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Baron, James N & Burton, M Diane & Hannan, Michael T, 1996. "The Road Taken: Origins and Evolution of Employment Systems in Emerging Companies," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(2), pages 239-75.
  15. Aurora Teixeira, 2002. "On the Link between Human Capital and Firm Performance. A Theoretical and Empirical Survey," FEP Working Papers 121, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto. [Downloadable!]
  16. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Sandra Silva, 2004. "On evolutionary technological change and economic growth: Lakatos as a starting point for appraisal," FEP Working Papers 139, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Maria do Rosario Correia & Scott C. Linn & Andrew Marshall, 2004. "An Empirical Investigation of Debt Contract Design: The Determinants of the Choice of Debt Terms in Eurobond Issues," FEP Working Papers 148, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jorge M. S. Valente, 2004. "Local and global dominance conditions for the weighted earliness scheduling problem with no idle time," FEP Working Papers 156, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto. [Downloadable!]
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