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Human Capital In Growth Regressions: How Much Difference Does Data Quality Make?

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  • ?gel de la Fuente
  • Rafael Dom?ech

Abstract

We construct a revised version of the Barro and Lee (1996) data set for a sample of OECD countries using previously unexploited sources and following a heuristic approach to obtain plausible time profiles for attainment levels by removing sharp breaks in the data that seem to reflect changes in classification criteria. It is then shown that these revised data perform much better than the Barro and Lee (1996) or Nehru et al. (1995) series in a number of growth specifications. We interpret these results as an indication that poor data quality may be behind counterintuitive findings in the recent literature on the (lack of) relationship between educational investment and growth. Using our preferred empirical specification, we also show that the contribution of TFP to cross-country productivity differentials is substantial and that its importance relative to differences in factor stocks increases over time ... Nous avons révisé l’ensemble des données de Barro et Lee (1996) pour un échantillon de pays de l’OCDE, en utilisant des sources auparavant inexploitées, en suivant une approche heuristique afin d’obtenir des profils temporels plausibles en ce qui concerne les niveaux d’éducation en supprimant les ruptures importantes dans les séries qui semblent refléter des changements dans les critères de classification. On démontre ensuite que la performance des données révisées est meilleure que celle obtenue en utilisant les séries de Barro et Lee (1996) et de Nehru et al. (1995) dans plusieurs specifications de croissance. Nous interprétons ces résultats comme une indication du fait que la mauvaise qualité des données pourrait être à l’origine des résultats contraires à l’intuition dans la littérature récente sur le lien non-significatif entre l’investissement éducatif et la croissance. En utilisant notre spécification empirique préférée, nous démontrons également que la contribution de la ...
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  • ?gel de la Fuente & Rafael Dom?ech, "undated". "Human Capital In Growth Regressions: How Much Difference Does Data Quality Make?," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 446.00, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    • Handle: RePEc:aub:autbar:446.00
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    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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