IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecdequ/v23y2009i3p254-266.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Getting Income Shares Right

Author

Listed:
  • Aamer S. Abu-Qarn

    (Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel, aamer@bgu.ac.il)

  • Suleiman Abu-Bader

    (Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel)

Abstract

This article presents estimates of the shares of inputs in income for countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, utilizing advanced panel data techniques. Its findings are as follows: A share of physical capital of over 0.50, as opposed to the conventional one third, is robust to several specifications of the production function; the organization's growth was driven mainly by accumulation of resources and not technological gains; and following the first oil shock, the share of physical capital dropped, whereas the share of human capital rose. Consequently, using the conventional shares may have led to overstating the severity of the post-1973 productivity slowdown.

Suggested Citation

  • Aamer S. Abu-Qarn & Suleiman Abu-Bader, 2009. "Getting Income Shares Right," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 23(3), pages 254-266, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:23:y:2009:i:3:p:254-266
    DOI: 10.1177/0891242408331025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891242408331025
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0891242408331025?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William Nordhaus, 2004. "Retrospective on the 1970s Productivity Slowdown," NBER Working Papers 10950, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Kahn, James A. & Rich, Robert W., 2007. "Tracking the new economy: Using growth theory to detect changes in trend productivity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 1670-1701, September.
    3. Douglas Gollin, 2002. "Getting Income Shares Right," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 458-474, April.
    4. Duffy, John & Papageorgiou, Chris, 2000. "A Cross-Country Empirical Investigation of the Aggregate Production Function Specification," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 87-120, March.
    5. Jalava Jukka & Pohjola Matti & Ripatti Antti & Vilmunen Jouko, 2006. "Biased Technical Change and Capital-Labour Substitution in Finland, 1902-2003," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, April.
    6. 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.
    7. World Bank, 2008. "World Development Indicators 2008," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11855.
    8. Edwards, Sebastian, 1998. "Openness, Productivity and Growth: What Do We Really Know?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(447), pages 383-398, March.
    9. Fisher, Franklin M, 1971. "Aggregate Production Functions and the Explanation of Wages: A Simulation Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 53(4), pages 305-325, November.
    10. I Fraser, 2002. "The Cobb-Douglas Production Function: An Antipodean Defence?," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 7(1), pages 39-58, March.
    11. Charles R. Hulten & Edwin R. Dean & Michael J. Harper, 2001. "New Developments in Productivity Analysis," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number hult01-1.
    12. Bruce E. Hansen, 2001. "The New Econometrics of Structural Change: Dating Breaks in U.S. Labour Productivity," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 117-128, Fall.
    13. Ben S. Bernanke & Refet S. Gürkaynak, 2002. "Is Growth Exogenous? Taking Mankiw, Romer, and Weil Seriously," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2001, Volume 16, pages 11-72, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Bentolila Samuel & Saint-Paul Gilles, 2003. "Explaining Movements in the Labor Share," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-33, October.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. Antràs Pol, 2004. "Is the U.S. Aggregate Production Function Cobb-Douglas? New Estimates of the Elasticity of Substitution," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-36, April.
    18. Abu-Qarn, Aamer S. & Abu-Bader, Suleiman, 2007. "Sources of Growth Revisited: Evidence from Selected MENA Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 752-771, May.
    19. repec:dgr:rugggd:200363 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Timmer, Marcel P. & Ypma, Gerard & Ark, Bart van der, 2003. "IT in the European Union: driving productivity divergence?," GGDC Research Memorandum 200363, Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen.
    21. Dale Jorgenson & Eric Yip, 2001. "Whatever Happened to Productivity Growth?," NBER Chapters, in: New Developments in Productivity Analysis, pages 509-540, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Jesus Felipe & Franklin M. Fisher, 2003. "Aggregation in Production Functions: What Applied Economists should Know," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2‐3), pages 208-262, May.
    23. Paul M. Romer, 1987. "Crazy Explanations for the Productivity Slowdown," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1987, Volume 2, pages 163-210, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Renuka Mahadevan, 2003. "To Measure or Not To Measure Total Factor Productivity Growth?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 365-378.
    25. Juan F. Jimeno & Esther Moral & Lorena Saiz, 2006. "Structural breaks in labor productivity growth: the United States vs. the European Union," Working Papers 0625, Banco de España.
    26. Abdelhak Senhadji, 2000. "Sources of Economic Growth: An Extensive Growth Accounting Exercise," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 47(1), pages 1-6.
    27. Alwyn Young, 1995. "The Tyranny of Numbers: Confronting the Statistical Realities of the East Asian Growth Experience," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 641-680.
    28. World Bank, 2008. "World Development Indicators 2008," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28241.
    29. Susan M. Collins & Barry P. Bosworth, 1996. "Economic Growth in East Asia: Accumulation versus Assimilation," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 27(2), pages 135-204.
    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. Axel Dreher & Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Friedrich Schneider, 2014. "The devil is in the shadow: Do institutions affect income and productivity or only official income and official productivity?," Post-Print CEB, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 158(1-2), pages 121-141, January.
    2. Monica Pop Silaghi & Diana Alexa, 2015. "Sources of Growth: Evidence from Ten Central and Eastern European Countries during 1993-2008," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 62(5), pages 643-661, December.
    3. Luciano Fanti & Luca Gori, 2010. "Economic Growth and Welfare in a Neoclassical Overlapping Generations Growth Model with Minimum Wages and Consumption Taxes," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(3), pages 238-262, September.

    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. Aamer Abu-Qarn & Suleiman Abu-Bader, 2007. "Getting Income Shares Right: A Panel Data Investigation for OECD Countries," Working Papers 0701, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    2. Robert W. Arnold, 2003. "Modeling Long-Run Economic Growth: Technical Paper 2003-04," Working Papers 14497, Congressional Budget Office.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2011. "Econometrics For Grumblers: A New Look At The Literature On Cross‐Country Growth Empirics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 109-155, February.
    6. Jean-Louis ARCAND & Béatrice D'HOMBRES, 2002. "Explaining the Negative Coefficient Associated with Human Capital in Augmented Solow Growth Regressions," Working Papers 200227, CERDI.
    7. Abu-Qarn, Aamer & Abu-Bader, Suleiman, 2005. "A Versus K Revisited: Evidence from Selected MENA Countries," MPRA Paper 1114, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Bjørnskov, Christian & Méon, Pierre-Guillaume, 2015. "The Productivity of Trust," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 317-331.
    9. World Bank, 2007. "Ghana - Meeting the Challenge of Accelerated and Shared Growth : Country Economic Memorandum, Volume 1. Synthesis," World Bank Publications - Reports 7663, The World Bank Group.
    10. Ferreira, Pedro Cavalcanti & Issler, Joao Victor & de Abreu Pessoa, Samuel, 2004. "Testing production functions used in empirical growth studies," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 29-35, April.
    11. Jakub Mućk & Peter McAdam & Jakub Growiec, 2018. "Will The “True” Labor Share Stand Up? An Applied Survey On Labor Share Measures," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 961-984, September.
    12. Ishise, Hirokazu & Sawada, Yasuyuki, 2009. "Aggregate returns to social capital: Estimates based on the augmented augmented-Solow model," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 376-393, September.
    13. Jakub Growiec & Anna Pajor & Dorota Gorniak & Artur Predki, 2015. "The shape of aggregate production functions: evidence from estimates of the World Technology Frontier," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 46(4), pages 299-326.
    14. Francesco Caselli & Wilbur John Coleman II, 2006. "The World Technology Frontier," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 499-522, June.
    15. Constantino Hevia & Norman Loayza, 2012. "Saving And Growth In Egypt," Middle East Development Journal (MEDJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(01), pages 1-23.
    16. Paul E. Brockway & Matthew K. Heun & João Santos & John R. Barrett, 2017. "Energy-Extended CES Aggregate Production: Current Aspects of Their Specification and Econometric Estimation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, February.
    17. Veloso, Fernando A. & Ferreira, Pedro Cavalcanti & Pessôa, Samuel de Abreu, 2004. "The evolution of international output differences (1960-2000): From factors to productivity," FGV EPGE Economics Working Papers (Ensaios Economicos da EPGE) 548, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil).
    18. Jakub Growiec, 2009. "Determinants of the Labor Share: Evidence from a Panel of Firms," NBP Working Papers 69, Narodowy Bank Polski.
    19. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2010. "Aggregation versus Heterogeneity in Cross-Country Growth Empirics," CSAE Working Paper Series 2010-32, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    20. Jonathan Temple & Ludger Wößmann, 2006. "Dualism and cross-country growth regressions," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 187-228, September.

    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:sae:ecdequ:v:23:y:2009:i:3:p:254-266. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.