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The relationship between factor shares and economic development

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  • Sturgill, Brad

Abstract

The stability of factor shares has long been considered one of the “stylized facts” of macroeconomics. Most factor share studies, however, acknowledge only two factors of production (total capital and total labor), which yields misleading results. I distinguish between reproducible and non-reproducible factors of production. I disentangle physical capital’s share from natural capital’s share and human capital’s share from unskilled labor’s share. Results reveal that non-reproducible factor shares decrease with the stage of economic development, and reproducible factor shares increase with the stage of economic development. This evidence suggests that studies relying on the macroeconomic paradigm of constant factor shares should be revisited. The evidence also supports endogenous growth models that allow technical progress to manifest itself via changes in factor shares.

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  • Sturgill, Brad, 2012. "The relationship between factor shares and economic development," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1044-1062.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jmacro:v:34:y:2012:i:4:p:1044-1062
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmacro.2012.07.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Brad Sturgill & Hernando Zuleta, 2017. "Variable factor shares and the index number problem: a generalization. Abstract Factor shares vary over time and across countries, so incorporating variable factor shares into growth and development a," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(1), pages 30-37.
    2. Hernando Zuleta, 2015. "Getting Growth Accounting Right," Documentos CEDE 13814, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    3. Andrés O. Dávila & Manuel Fernández & Hernando Zuleta, 2021. "The Natural Resource Boom and The Uneven Fall of The Labor Share," Documentos CEDE 19427, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    4. Peretto, Pietro F. & Seater, John J., 2013. "Factor-eliminating technical change," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 459-473.
    5. Hernando Zuleta & Daniel Gamboa, 2019. "Factor reallocation and growth: what if there are labor saving innovations?," Documentos CEDE 17199, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    6. Perera-Tallo, Fernando, 2017. "Growing income inequality due to biased technological change," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 23-38.
    7. St-Pierre, Marc, 2018. "A note on multiplicative uncertainty and shareholders’ unanimity," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 54-58.
    8. Sturgill, Brad, 2014. "Back to the basics: Revisiting the development accounting methodology," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 52-68.
    9. Georges Daw, 2024. "Impact of technical change via intermediate consumption: exhaustive general equilibrium growth accounting and reassessment applied to USA 1954–1990," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 23(1), pages 55-87, January.
    10. Tiago Sequeira & Hugo Morão, 2020. "Growth accounting and regressions: New approach and results," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 162, pages 67-79.
    11. Growiec, Jakub & McAdam, Peter & Mućk, Jakub, 2018. "Endogenous labor share cycles: Theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 74-93.
    12. Norman Maynard, 2016. "Long-Run Growth Differences and the Neoclassical Growth Model," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(3), pages 574-583, September.
    13. Juan Carlos Aquino & N. R. Ramírez-Rondán, 2020. "Estimating factor shares from nonstationary panel data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 2353-2380, May.
    14. Antonelli, Cristiano, 2016. "Technological congruence and the economic complexity of technological change," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 15-24.
    15. Dawson, John W. & Sturgill, Brad, 2022. "Market Institutions and Factor Shares Across Countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 266-289.
    16. John Seater & Karine Yenokyan, 2019. "Factor Augmentation, Factor Elimination, And Economic Growth," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(1), pages 429-452, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Factor shares; Technological progress; Economic development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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