IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v117y2012i1p14-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urbanization, human capital, and cross-country productivity differences

Author

Listed:
  • Kumar, Alok
  • Kober, Brianne

Abstract

In this paper, we empirically examine the effects of health, education, and urbanization on the total factor productivity (TFP) of a large number of countries. We find that both urbanization and health indicators (life expectancy, infant mortality rate, and the risk of malaria) significantly affect TFP. Education has an insignificant effect on TFP. Coefficients of indicators of health and urbanization remain highly significant even after controlling for endogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Kumar, Alok & Kober, Brianne, 2012. "Urbanization, human capital, and cross-country productivity differences," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 14-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:117:y:2012:i:1:p:14-17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2012.04.072
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176512002133
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2012.04.072?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    2. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2001. "International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 541-563, July.
    3. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    4. John Luke Gallup & Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew Mellinger, 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," CID Working Papers 1, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    5. Jeffrey D. Sachs, 2003. "Institutions Don't Rule: Direct Effects of Geography on Per Capita Income," NBER Working Papers 9490, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Gallup, John L. & Sachs, Jeffrey D. & Mellinger, Andrew, "undated". "Geography and Economic Development," Instructional Stata datasets for econometrics geodata, Boston College Department of Economics.
    7. Gallup, John & Sachs, Jeffrey, 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294434, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    8. Gallup, J.L. & Sachs, J.D. & Mullinger, A., 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," Papers 1, Chicago - Graduate School of Business.
    9. Kana Fuse, 2010. "Variations in attitudinal gender preferences for children across 50 less-developed countries," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 23(36), pages 1031-1048.
    10. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    11. Nazrul Islam, 1995. "Growth Empirics: A Panel Data Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(4), pages 1127-1170.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. He, Ming & Chen, Yang & van Marrewijk, Charles, 2021. "The effects of urban transformation on productivity spillovers in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 473-488.
    2. Yu Sang Chang & Moon Jung Kim & Su Min Kim & Sung Jun Jo, 2023. "The Offsetting Impact of Dependency and Urbanization on Mean Years of Schooling: A Scaling Analysis of 97 Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, April.
    3. Xiaoli Hao & Yuhong Li & Ume Lail, 2022. "Sustainable development with city, industry, economic and environment: The role of city-industry integration on green economic growth," Journal of Regional Economics, Anser Press, vol. 1(1), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Yang, Xuehui & Zhang, Huirong & Lin, Shanlang & Zhang, Jiaping & Zeng, Jianlong, 2021. "Does high-speed railway promote regional innovation growth or innovation convergence?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Aljarallah, Ruba A., 2021. "An assessment of the economic impact of natural resource rents in kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. He, Ming & Chen, Yang & van Marrewijk, Charles, 2017. "Urban Transformation and Technology Spillovers: Evidence from China's Electric Apparatus Sector," RIEI Working Papers 2017-01, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Research Institute for Economic Integration.
    7. Miao He & Junli Huang & Ruyi Sun, 2023. "Forecast of Advanced Human Capital Gap Based on PSO-BP Neural Network and Coordination Pathway: Example of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Yang Chen & Chien-Chiang Lee & Ming Chen, 2022. "Ecological footprint, human capital, and urbanization," Energy & Environment, , vol. 33(3), pages 487-510, May.
    9. Yu, Nannan & Yu, Bo & de Jong, Martin & Storm, Servaas, 2015. "Does inequality in educational attainment matter for China's economic growth?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 164-173.
    10. Arkadiusz Kijek & Tomasz Kijek, 2020. "Nonlinear Effects of Human Capital and R&D on TFP: Evidence from European Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, February.
    11. Roseline Tapuwa Karambakuwa & Ronney Ncwadi & Andrew Phiri, 2020. "The human capital–economic growth nexus in SSA countries: what can strengthen the relationship?," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 47(9), pages 1143-1159, July.
    12. Abbas, Syed Ali & Selvanathan, Saroja & Selvanathan, Eliyathamby A., 2023. "Structural transformation, urbanization, and remittances in developing countries: A panel VAR analysis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 55-69.
    13. Moraes, Ricardo Kalil & Wanke, Peter Fernandes & Faria, João Ricardo, 2021. "Unveiling the endogeneity between social-welfare and labor efficiency: Two-stage NDEA neural network approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Evgeniya, Gorlova, 2016. "TFP and Intelligence: a cross-national empirical evidence," MPRA Paper 69207, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Kyriaki Efthalitsidou & Eleni Zafeiriou & Konstantinos Spinthiropoulos & Ioannis Betsas & Nikolaos Sariannidis, 2021. "GDP and Public Expenditure in Education, Health, and Defense. Empirical Research for Greece," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(18), pages 1-17, September.
    16. Sakiru Adebola Solarin & Yuen Yee Yen, 2016. "A global analysis of the impact of research output on economic growth," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(2), pages 855-874, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chih Ming Tan, 2010. "No one true path: uncovering the interplay between geography, institutions, and fractionalization in economic development," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(7), pages 1100-1127, November/.
    2. Thomas Andersen & Carl-Johan Dalgaard, 2011. "Flows of people, flows of ideas, and the inequality of nations," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-32, March.
    3. Schünemann, Johannes & Bloom, David E. & Canning, David & Kotschy, Rainer & Prettner, Klaus, 2018. "Health and Economic Growth: Reconciling the Micro and Macro Evidence," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181554, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Ketterer, Tobias, 2016. "Institutions vs. ‘First-Nature’ Geography – What Drives Economic Growth in Europe’s Regions?," CEPR Discussion Papers 11322, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Coen Teulings & Thijs van Rens, 2008. "Education, Growth, and Income Inequality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(1), pages 89-104, February.
    6. Daniel Oto Peralías & Daniel Oto-Peralías & Diego Romero-Ávila, 2012. "Tracing the Link between Government Size and Growth: The Role of Public Sector Quality," EcoMod2012 4015, EcoMod.
    7. Matthew Cole & Eric Neumayer, 2006. "The impact of poor health on total factor productivity," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(6), pages 918-938.
    8. Kourtellos, Andros & Tan, Chih Ming & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2007. "Is the relationship between aid and economic growth nonlinear?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 515-540, September.
    9. Canavire-Bacarreza, Gustavo & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Yedgenov, Bauyrzhan, 2020. "Identifying and disentangling the impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    10. T. M. Tonmoy Islam & Jenny Minier & James P. Ziliak, 2015. "On Persistent Poverty in a Rich Country," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(3), pages 653-678, January.
    11. Jeffry A. Jacob & Thomas Osang, 2018. "Democracy And Growth: A Dynamic Panel Data Study," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(01), pages 41-80, August.
    12. David E. Bloom & David Canning & Jaypee Sevilla, 2002. "Technological Diffusion, Conditional Convergence, and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 8713, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Thomas Barnebeck Andersen & Carl-Johan Dalgaard, 2006. "Cross-Border Flows of People, Technology Diffusion and Aggregate Productivity," DEGIT Conference Papers c011_006, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    14. Brunnschweiler, Christa N., 2008. "Cursing the Blessings? Natural Resource Abundance, Institutions, and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 399-419, March.
    15. Fidel Perez-Sebastian, 2012. "Understanding R&D Policy: Efficiency or Politics?," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 3(3).
    16. Vatcharin Sirimaneetham, 2006. "Explaining policy volatility in developing countries," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 06/583, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    17. Tobias D. Ketterer & Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose, 2018. "Institutions vs. ‘first‐nature’ geography: What drives economic growth in Europe's regions?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(S1), pages 25-62, March.
    18. Ho Thuy Ai & Ping, Lin, 2018. "Impacts of fiscal policy on economic growth: Another look from institutional perspective," Economics Discussion Papers 2018-45, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    19. Rok Spruk & Mitja Kovac, 2019. "Transaction costs and economic growth under common legal system: State‐level evidence from Mexico," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 240-292, July.
    20. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2014. "What Do We Learn from the Weather? The New Climate-Economy Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 740-798, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Augmented Solow growth model; TFP; Health; Education; Urbanization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • N10 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:117:y:2012:i:1:p:14-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.