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Urbanization, human capital, and cross-country productivity differences

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  • 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
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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).
    9. 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).
    10. Evgeniya, Gorlova, 2016. "TFP and Intelligence: a cross-national empirical evidence," MPRA Paper 69207, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. 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).
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. Yang Chen & Chien-Chiang Lee & Ming Chen, 2022. "Ecological footprint, human capital, and urbanization," Energy & Environment, , vol. 33(3), pages 487-510, May.
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    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

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