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Steady-State Growth and the Elasticity of Substitution

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  • Irmen, Andreas

Abstract

In a neoclassical economy with endogenous capital- and labor-augmenting technical change the steady-state growth rate of output per worker is shown to increase in the elasticity of substitution between capital and labor. This confirms the assessment of Klump and de La Grandville (2000) that the elasticity of substitution is a powerful engine of economic growth. However, unlike their findings my result applies to the steady-state growth rate. Moreover, it does not hinge on particular assumptions on how aggregate savings come about. It holds for any household sector allowing savings to grow at the same rate as aggregate output.

Suggested Citation

  • Irmen, Andreas, 2010. "Steady-State Growth and the Elasticity of Substitution," Working Papers 0496, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:awi:wpaper:0496
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Klump, Rainer & Saam, Marianne, 2008. "Calibration of normalised CES production functions in dynamic models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 256-259, May.
    2. Bester, Helmut & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 2003. "Wages and productivity growth in a competitive industry," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 52-69, March.
    3. H. Uzawa, 1961. "Neutral Inventions and the Stability of Growth Equilibrium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 28(2), pages 117-124.
    4. Irmen Andreas & Klump Rainer, 2009. "Factor Substitution, Income Distribution and Growth in a Generalized Neoclassical Model," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 10(4), pages 464-479, December.
    5. Irmen, Andreas, 2005. "Extensive and intensive growth in a neoclassical framework," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 1427-1448, August.
    6. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    7. Ekkehart Schlicht, 2006. "A Variant of Uzawa's Theorem," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 5(6), pages 1-5.
    8. Daron Acemoglu, 2003. "Labor- And Capital-Augmenting Technical Change," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 1-37, March.
    9. de La Grandville, Olivier, 1989. "In Quest of the Slutsky Diamond," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 468-481, June.
    10. Hellwig, Martin & Irmen, Andreas, 2001. "Endogenous Technical Change in a Competitive Economy," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 1-39, November.
    11. Olivier de La Grandville & Rainer Klump, 2000. "Economic Growth and the Elasticity of Substitution: Two Theorems and Some Suggestions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 282-291, March.
    12. repec:awi:wpaper:0453 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Andreas Irmen & Rainer Klump, 2009. "Factor Substitution, Income Distribution and Growth in a Generalized Neoclassical Model," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 10(4), pages 464-479, November.
    14. Kaz Miyagiwa & Chris Papageorgiou, 2003. "Elasticity of substitution and growth: normalized CES in the Diamond model," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 21(1), pages 155-165, January.
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    1. Irmen, Andreas, 2011. "Steady-state growth and the elasticity of substitution," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1215-1228, August.
    2. Yoseph Yilma Getachew, 2011. "Public Investment Policy, Distribution, and Growth: What Levels of Redistribution through Public Investment Maximize Growth?," DEGIT Conference Papers c016_072, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Capital Accumulation; Elasticity of Substitution; Direction of Technical Change; Neoclassical Growth Model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

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