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Rejecting capital-skill complementarity at all costs

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  • Frondel, Manuel
  • Schmidt, Christoph M.

Abstract

Any serious empirical study of factor substitutability has to allow the data to display complementarity as well as substitutability. The standard approach reflecting this idea is a translog specification – this is also the approach used by numerous studies analyzing the relative capital-skill complementarity hypothesis formulated by GRILICHES (1969). According to this hypothesis, the degree of substitutability between skilled labor and capital is lower than that for unskilled labor and capital. Yet, the results of empirical studies investigating this hypothesis are controversial. This paper offers a straightforward explanation: Using a translog approach reduces the issue of factor substitutability or complementarity to a question of cost shares. Our review of translog studies mentioned in HAMERMESH?s (1993) summary on the demand for heterogeneous labor demonstrates that this argument is empirically relevant – all these studies can be reconciled with each other on the basis of the cost-share argument.

Suggested Citation

  • Frondel, Manuel & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2001. "Rejecting capital-skill complementarity at all costs," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-27, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:5382
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    10. Freeman, Richard B & Medoff, James L, 1982. "Substitution between Production Labor and Other Inputs in Unionized and Nonunionized Manufacturing," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(2), pages 220-233, May.
    11. Manuel Frondel & Christoph M. Schmidt, 2002. "The Capital-Energy Controversy: An Artifact of Cost Shares?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 53-79.
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    Cited by:

    1. Manuel Frondel & Peter Behl & Holger Dette & Harald Tauchmann, 2011. "Choice is Suffering: A Focused Information Criterion for Model Selection Activation Program for Disadvantaged Youths," Ruhr Economic Papers 0250, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    2. Michel Dumont, 2006. "Foreign Outsourcing, Labour Demand and the Choice of Functional Form," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 255-273, November.
    3. Behl, Peter & Dette, Holger & Frondel, Manuel & Tauchmann, Harald, 2012. "Choice is suffering: A Focused Information Criterion for model selection," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 817-822.
    4. repec:zbw:rwidps:0038 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:zbw:rwirep:0264 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Peter Behl & Holger Dette & Manuel Frondel & Harald Tauchmann, 2011. "Being Focused: When the Purpose of Inference Matters for Model Selection," Ruhr Economic Papers 0264, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    7. Frondel, Manuel & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2006. "On the Restrictiveness of Separability: The Significance of Energy in German Manufacturing," RWI Discussion Papers 38, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    8. Behl, Peter & Dette, Holger & Frondel, Manuel & Tauchmann, Harald, 2013. "Energy substitution: When model selection depends on the focus," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 233-238.
    9. Ljubica Nedelkoska & Simon Wiederhold, 2010. "Technology, outsourcing, and the demand for heterogeneous labor: Exploring the industry dimension," Jena Economics Research Papers 2010-052, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    10. Behl, Peter & Dette, Holger & Frondel, Manuel & Tauchmann, Harald, 2011. "Being Focused: When the Purpose of Inference Matters for Model Selection," Ruhr Economic Papers 264, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    11. Manuel Frondel & Christoph M. Schmidt, 2006. "On the Restrictiveness of Separability: The Significance of Energy in German Manufacturing," RWI Discussion Papers 0038, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    12. Juan A. Correa & Miguel Lorca & Francisco Parro, 2019. "Capital–Skill Complementarity: Does Capital Composition Matter?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(1), pages 89-116, January.
    13. repec:zbw:rwirep:0256 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Frondel, Manuel, 2011. "Modeling Energy and Non-energy Substitution – A Survey of Elasticities," Ruhr Economic Papers 256, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    15. Eva, MORENO GALBIS, 2002. "Changes in the skill structure of the labour force. An empirical application to the Spanish case," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2002035, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    16. Manuel Frondel, 2011. "Modeling Energy and Non-energy Substitution – A Survey of Elasticities," Ruhr Economic Papers 0256, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    17. repec:zbw:rwirep:0250 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Frondel, Manuel, 2011. "Modelling energy and non-energy substitution: A brief survey of elasticities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 4601-4604, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Substitutability; Translog Cost Function;

    JEL classification:

    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • C3 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables

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