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Skill Formation, Capital Adjustment Cost and Wage Inequality

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  • Yabuuchi, Shigemi
  • Chaudhuri, Sarbajit

Abstract

The paper employs a three-sector general equilibrium model for examining the consequences of an infrastructure development scheme to the education sector and an inflow of foreign capital on the skilled-unskilled wage inequality in a developing economy. The education sector faces a capital adjustment cost for which the effective unit cost of capital depends positively on the amount of capital employed. Although both infrastructure development scheme and inflows of foreign capital lead to higher skill formation, the policies produce incongruent effects on the wages of skilled and unskilled labour. Furthermore, the effects of the policies on the skilled-unskilled wage inequality depend crucially on the relative factor intensities of the low-skill and high-skill sectors. Finally, which of the two policies should the country adopt depends on the technological, institutional and trade related factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Yabuuchi, Shigemi & Chaudhuri, Sarbajit, 2009. "Skill Formation, Capital Adjustment Cost and Wage Inequality," MPRA Paper 18381, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:18381
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Chaudhuri, Sarbajit & Ghosh, Arnab & Banerjee, Dibyendu, 2018. "Can public subsidy on education necessarily improve wage inequality?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 165-177.
    2. Pengqing Zhang, 2019. "Skill formation, environmental pollution, and wage inequality," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 62(2), pages 405-424, April.
    3. Chaudhuri, Sarbajit, 2014. "Public Subsidy on Education, Welfare, and Wage Inequality in a Small Open Developed Economy: A Two-period Analysis," MPRA Paper 60330, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Priya Brata Dutta & Nirjhar Ghosh, 2021. "Wage Inequality and Unemployment in the Presence of Imported Intermediate Goods: A Theoretical Analysis," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 56(4), pages 375-399, November.
    5. Pan, Lijun, 2014. "The impacts of education investment on skilled–unskilled wage inequality and economic development in developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 174-181.
    6. Acharyya, Rajat, 2010. "Successive Trade Liberalization and Wage Inequality," MPRA Paper 30158, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Sudeshna Mitra & Kausik Gupta, 2017. "Fragmentation, Skill Formation And International Capital Mobility," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(02), pages 335-350, March.
    8. Sugata Marjit & Rashmi Ahuja & Abhilasha Pandey, 2021. "Education, Lack of Complementary Investment and Underemployment In an Open Economy," CESifo Working Paper Series 9278, CESifo.
    9. Chaudhuri, Sarbajit, 2010. "Economic recession, demand constraint and labour markets in a developing economy," MPRA Paper 27433, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Gupta Manash Ranjan & Dutta Priya Brata, 2014. "Skilled-Unskilled Wage Inequality, Growth of Skilled Labour and Development Policies," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-26, June.
    11. Jonck, Petronella & Goujon, Anne & Testa, Maria Rita & Kandala, John, 2015. "Education and crime engagement in South Africa: A national and provincial perspective," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 141-151.
    12. Chaudhuri, Sarbajit, 2014. "Does Public Assistance for Skills Formation Necessarily Improve Wage Inequality in the Future?," MPRA Paper 57788, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Li, Xiaochun & Zhou, Yu, 2013. "An economic analysis of remittance of unskilled migration on skilled–unskilled wage inequality in labor host region," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 428-432.
    14. Manash Ranjan Gupta & Priya Brata Dutta, 2018. "Skilled-unskilled wage inequality and structural transformation in a dual economy," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 311-332, December.
    15. Gupta, Manash Ranjan & Dutta, Priya Brata, 2010. "Skilled-unskilled wage inequality, nontraded good and endogenous supply of skilled labour: A theoretical analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 923-934, September.
    16. Gupta, Manash Ranjan & Dutta, Priya Brata, 2011. "Skilled-unskilled wage inequality and unemployment: A general equilibrium analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 1977-1983, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Skill formation; skilled labour; unskilled labour; wage inequality; foreign capital; capital adjustment cost;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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