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Formal Education and Public Knowledge

Author

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  • Maurizio Iacopetta

    (Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Économiques)

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the transitional dynamics of an economy populated by individuals who split their time between acquiring a formal education, producing final goods, and innovating. The paper has two objectives: (i) uncovering the macroeconomic circumstances that favored the rise of formal education; (ii) to reconcile the remarkable growth of the education sector with the constancy of other key macroeconomic variables, such as the interest rate, the consumption-output ratio, and the growth rate of per capita income (Kaldor facts). The transitional dynamics of human capital growth models, such as Lucas (1988), would attribute the arrival of education to the diminishing marginal productivity of physical capital. Conversely, the model proposed here suggests that it is the rate of learning that catches up with the rate of return on physical capital. As technical knowledge expands, the rate of return on education increases, and this induces individuals to stay longer in school. The model's transitional paths are matched with long run U.S. educational and economic data.

Suggested Citation

  • Maurizio Iacopetta, 2010. "Formal Education and Public Knowledge," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2010-33, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    • Handle: RePEc:fce:doctra:1033
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    File URL: http://www.ofce.sciences-po.fr/pdf/dtravail/WP2010-33.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Xi & Funke, Michael, 2013. "The dynamics of catch-up and skill and technology upgrading in China," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 465-480.
    2. Zakaria Babutsidze & Maurizio Iacopetta, 2016. "Innovation, growth and financial markets," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 1-24, March.
    3. Gómez Manuel A. & Neves Sequeira Tiago, 2012. "Phases of Economic Development: Do Initial Endowments Matter?," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, July.
    4. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2018. "Growth, Research, and Free Trade with Knowledge as Global Public Capital," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 3, pages 37-66.
    5. Pierre‐Richard Agénor & Barış Alpaslan, 2018. "Infrastructure And Industrial Development With Endogenous Skill Acquisition," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 313-334, October.
    6. Gómez Manuel A. & Sequeira Tiago Neves, 2012. "The Transitional Dynamics of an Endogenous Growth Model: Generalizing Production Functions," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(5), pages 1-27, December.
    7. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Lim, King Yoong, 2018. "Unemployment, growth and welfare effects of labor market reforms," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 19-38.
    8. Constantin Chilarescu & Ioana Viasu, 2013. "A Model of Endogenous Growth: The Case of an Innovative Economy," Post-Print hal-02397413, HAL.
    9. Gómez, Manuel A. & Sequeira, Tiago N., 2013. "Optimal R&D subsidies in a model with physical capital, human capital and varieties," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 217-224.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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