This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Was the Barrier to Labor Mobility an Important Factor for the Prewar Japanese Stagnation?

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Aoki, Shuhei

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

Using a simple framework, I reexamine the Hayashi and Prescott hypothesis (2006) that a barrier to labor mobility that maintained high agricultural employment was a cause of the stagnation in the prewar Japanese economy. I find that the labor misallocation between the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors had larger negative effects on the prewar Japanese aggregate productivity than on the postwar aggregate productivity. However, this is not because the wage differential between the sectors was larger but because the agricultural nominal share was larger in prewar Japan. Finally, I show that a model that does not assume a barrier to labor mobility can explain the change in the prewar and postwar agricultural employment rate and nominal share. These results suggest that factors other than labor misallocation are responsible for the stagnation in the prewar Japanese economy.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/8178/
File Format:
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 8178.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: 09 Apr 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:8178

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Schackstr. 4, D-80539 Munich, Germany
Phone: +49-(0)89-2180-2219
Fax: +49-(0)89-2180-3900
Web page: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Ekkehart Schlicht).

Related research
Keywords: agriculture barrier to labor mobility prewar Japan resource misallocation two-sector model

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
O1 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth
N5 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries
E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
O4 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity

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. Gollin, Douglas & Parente, Stephen L. & Rogerson, Richard, 2007. "The food problem and the evolution of international income levels," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 1230-1255, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Laitner, John, 2000. "Structural Change and Economic Growth," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 67(3), pages 545-61, July.
  3. Diego Restuccia & Dennis Tao Yang & Xiaodong Zhu, 2007. "Agriculture and Aggregate Productivity: A Quantitative Cross-Country Analysis," Working Papers e07-3, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Margarida Duarte & Diego Restuccia, 2007. "The Role of the Structural Transformation in Aggregate Productivity," Working Papers tecipa-300, University of Toronto, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Fumio Hayashi & Edward C. Prescott, 2006. "The Depressing Effect of Agricultural Institutions on the Prewar Japanese Economy," NBER Working Papers 12081, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2007. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," NBER Working Papers 13290, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2007. "Policy Distortions and Aggregate Productivity with Heterogeneous Plants," Working Papers tecipa-283, University of Toronto, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Diewert, W Erwin, 1978. "Superlative Index Numbers and Consistency in Aggregation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(4), pages 883-900, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Douglas Gollin & Stephen Parente & Richard Rogerson, 2002. "The Role of Agriculture in Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 160-164, May. [Downloadable!]
Full references

Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS indexes over 600000 items of research in Economics alone.

This page was last updated on 2008-11-18.


This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.