IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jecgro/v22y2017i1d10.1007_s10887-016-9136-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Revisiting the world technology frontier: a directional distance function approach

Author

Listed:
  • Jens J. Krüger

    (Darmstadt University of Technology)

Abstract

This paper revisits the finding of Caselli and Coleman (Amer Econ Rev 96:499–522, 2006) that poor countries are relatively more efficient in using unskilled labor whereas rich countries are more efficient in using skilled labor. The analysis is based on an approach using directional distance functions from nonparametric efficiency analysis which relies on very mild assumptions. We find that the central result of Caselli and Coleman is robust to using the nonparametric approach. The result is, however, sensitive to alternative definitions of skilled and unskilled labor, data sources and variations of the measurement approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Jens J. Krüger, 2017. "Revisiting the world technology frontier: a directional distance function approach," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 67-95, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jecgro:v:22:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10887-016-9136-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10887-016-9136-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10887-016-9136-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10887-016-9136-5?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. Banker, Rajiv D. & Thrall, R. M., 1992. "Estimation of returns to scale using data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 74-84, October.
    2. Robert C. Feenstra & Robert Inklaar & Marcel P. Timmer, 2015. "The Next Generation of the Penn World Table," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3150-3182, October.
    3. Susanto Basu & David N. Weil, 1998. "Appropriate Technology and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1025-1054.
    4. Krüger, Jens & Hampf, Benjamin, 2015. "Optimal Directions for Directional Distance Functions: An Exploration of Potential Reductions of Greenhouse Gases," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 77007, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    5. John Duffy & Chris Papageorgiou & Fidel Perez-Sebastian, 2004. "Capital-Skill Complementarity? Evidence from a Panel of Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 327-344, February.
    6. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Introduction to "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings"," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 1-4, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. R. Färe & S. Grosskopf & G. Whittaker, 2013. "Directional output distance functions: endogenous directions based on exogenous normalization constraints," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 267-269, December.
    8. Daron Acemoglu & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2001. "Productivity Differences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 563-606.
    9. 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.
    10. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1, March.
    11. Daniel J. Henderson & Valentin Zelenyuk, 2007. "Testing for (Efficiency) Catching-up," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(4), pages 1003-1019, April.
    12. Oleg Badunenko & Daniel Henderson & R. Russell, 2013. "Polarization of the worldwide distribution of productivity," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 153-171, October.
    13. Robert C. Feenstra & Alan Heston & Marcel P. Timmer & Haiyan Deng, 2009. "Estimating Real Production and Expenditures across Nations: A Proposal for Improving the Penn World Tables," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 201-212, February.
    14. Daron Acemoglu, 1998. "Why Do New Technologies Complement Skills? Directed Technical Change and Wage Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1055-1089.
    15. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    16. Jonathan R. W. Temple, 1998. "Robustness tests of the augmented Solow model," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(4), pages 361-375.
    17. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Directed Technical Change," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(4), pages 781-809.
    18. Psacharopoulos, George, 1994. "Returns to investment in education: A global update," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(9), pages 1325-1343, September.
    19. Walter Briec & K. Kerstens, 2009. "Infeasibilities and directional distance functions: with application to the determinateness of the luenberger productivity indicator," Post-Print hal-00372560, HAL.
    20. Daniel J. Henderson & R. Robert Russell, 2005. "Human Capital And Convergence: A Production-Frontier Approach ," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1167-1205, November.
    21. Jakub Growiec, 2012. "The World Technology Frontier: What Can We Learn from the US States?-super-," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 74(6), pages 777-807, December.
    22. Charles I. Jones, 2005. "The Shape of Production Functions and the Direction of Technical Change," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 517-549.
    23. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    24. Peter J. Klenow & Mark Bils, 2000. "Does Schooling Cause Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1160-1183, December.
    25. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 41-63, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Daron Acemoglu, 2015. "Localised and Biased Technologies: Atkinson and Stiglitz's New View, Induced Innovations, and Directed Technological Change," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(583), pages 443-463, March.
    27. W. Briec & K. Kerstens, 2009. "Infeasibility and Directional Distance Functions with Application to the Determinateness of the Luenberger Productivity Indicator," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 141(1), pages 55-73, April.
    28. Francesco Caselli & Wilbur John Coleman II, 2006. "The World Technology Frontier," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 499-522, June.
    29. Lau, Lawrence J., 1986. "Functional forms in econometric model building," Handbook of Econometrics, in: Z. Griliches† & M. D. Intriligator (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 26, pages 1515-1566, Elsevier.
    30. Xiaodong Zhu, 2012. "Understanding China's Growth: Past, Present, and Future," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 103-124, Fall.
    31. Benjamin Hampf & Jens J. Krüger, 2015. "Optimal Directions for Directional Distance Functions: An Exploration of Potential Reductions of Greenhouse Gases," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 97(3), pages 920-938.
    32. Temple, Jonathan, 2000. "Growth Regressions and What the Textbooks Don't Tell You," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 181-205, July.
    33. Daron Acemoglu, 2007. "Equilibrium Bias of Technology," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(5), pages 1371-1409, September.
    34. Koller, Manuel & Stahel, Werner A., 2011. "Sharpening Wald-type inference in robust regression for small samples," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(8), pages 2504-2515, August.
    35. Temple, Jonathan, 2012. "The calibration of CES production functions," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 294-303.
    36. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
    37. Jerzmanowski, Michal, 2007. "Total factor productivity differences: Appropriate technology vs. efficiency," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(8), pages 2080-2110, November.
    38. Subodh Kumar & R. Robert Russell, 2002. "Technological Change, Technological Catch-up, and Capital Deepening: Relative Contributions to Growth and Convergence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 527-548, June.
    39. R. D. Banker & A. Charnes & W. W. Cooper, 1984. "Some Models for Estimating Technical and Scale Inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1078-1092, September.
    40. Robert Summers & Alan Heston, 1991. "The Penn World Table (Mark 5): An Expanded Set of International Comparisons, 1950–1988," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 327-368.
    41. Chambers, Robert G. & Chung, Yangho & Fare, Rolf, 1996. "Benefit and Distance Functions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 407-419, August.
    42. Atkinson, Anthony B & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1969. "A New View of Technological Change," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 79(315), pages 573-578, September.
    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. Jens J. Krüger, 2020. "Long‐run productivity trends: A global update with a global index," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 1393-1412, November.
    2. Deng, Zhongqi & Jiang, Nan & Pang, Ruizhi, 2021. "Factor-analysis-based directional distance function: The case of New Zealand hospitals," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Jean Mercenier & Ebru Voyvoda, 2021. "On barriers to technology adoption, appropriate technology and European integration," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 157(3), pages 669-702, August.
    4. Deng, Zhongqi & Song, Shunfeng & Jiang, Nan & Pang, Ruizhi, 2023. "Sustainable development in China? A nonparametric decomposition of economic growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    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. Jens J. Krüger, 2016. "Radar scanning the world production frontier," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 1-13, August.
    2. Jakub Growiec, 2013. "On the measurement of technological progress across countries," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 44(5), pages 467-504.
    3. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    4. Henderson, Daniel J. & Tochkov, Kiril & Badunenko, Oleg, 2007. "A drive up the capital coast? Contributions to post-reform growth across Chinese provinces," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 569-594, September.
    5. Cragun, Randy & Tamura, Robert & Jerzmanowski, Michal, 2017. "Directed technical change: A macro perspective on life cycle earnings profiles," MPRA Paper 81830, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Kristiaan Kerstens & Jens J. Krüger & Zhiyang Shen, 2022. "Localized technological change," Chapters, in: Cristiano Antonelli (ed.), Elgar Encyclopedia on the Economics of Knowledge and Innovation, chapter 41, pages 332-340, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Areendam Chanda & Beatrice Farkas, 2009. "Technology-Skill Complementarity and International TFP Differences," DEGIT Conference Papers c014_028, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    8. Oleg Badunenko & Daniel Henderson & Romain Houssa, 2014. "Significant drivers of growth in Africa," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 339-354, December.
    9. Michael S. Delgado & Daniel J. Henderson & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2014. "Does Education Matter for Economic Growth?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 76(3), pages 334-359, June.
    10. Francesco Caselli & Wilbur John Coleman II, 2006. "The World Technology Frontier," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 499-522, June.
    11. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    12. Michele Battisti & Massimo Del Gatto & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2018. "Labor productivity growth: disentangling technology and capital accumulation," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 111-143, March.
    13. Kai Du & Allan O’Connor, 2021. "Examining economic complexity as a holistic innovation system effect," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 237-257, January.
    14. Daniel Cohen & Marcelo Soto, 2007. "Growth and human capital: good data, good results," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 51-76, March.
    15. Jakub Growiec, 2012. "The World Technology Frontier: What Can We Learn from the US States?-super-," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 74(6), pages 777-807, December.
    16. Jerzmanowski, Michal & Tamura, Robert, 2019. "Directed technological change & cross-country income differences: A quantitative analysis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    17. Kerekes, Monika, 2007. "Analyzing patterns of economic growth: a production frontier approach," Discussion Papers 2007/15, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    18. Chris Papageorgiou & Fidel Perez‐Sebastian, 2007. "Is the Asymptotic Speed of Convergence a Good Proxy for the Transitional Growth Path?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(1), pages 1-24, February.
    19. Bloom, David E. & Chen, Simiao & Kuhn, Michael & McGovern, Mark E. & Oxley, Les & Prettner, Klaus, 2020. "The economic burden of chronic diseases: Estimates and projections for China, Japan, and South Korea," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    20. Marcelo Soto, 2006. "The Causal Effect of Education on Aggregate Income," Working Papers 0605, International Economics Institute, University of Valencia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Biased technological change; Appropriate technology; Nonparametric directional distance functions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • 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:kap:jecgro:v:22:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10887-016-9136-5. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.