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Education and 'Human Capitalists' in a Classical-Marxian Model of Growth and Distribution

Author

Listed:
  • Amitava Krishna Dutt

    (University of Notre Dame, and FLACSO)

  • Roberto Veneziani

    (Queen Mary University of London)

Abstract

A simple classical-Marxian model of growth and distribution is developed in which education transforms low-skilled workers into high-skilled ones and in which high-skilled workers save and hold capital, therefore receiving both high-skilled wages and profit income. We analyze the implications for class divisions, growth and distribution, of the transformation of the modern capitalist economy from one in which the main class division is between capitalists who own capital and workers who only receive wage income into one in which education and human capital play a major role. We show than an expansion in education can have a positive effect on growth but by altering the distribution of income rather than by fostering technological change, and that it yields some changes in income distribution and the class structure of the capitalist economy, but need not alter its fundamental features.

Suggested Citation

  • Amitava Krishna Dutt & Roberto Veneziani, 2017. "Education and 'Human Capitalists' in a Classical-Marxian Model of Growth and Distribution," Working Papers 816, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
  • Handle: RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:816
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Amitava Krishna Dutt & Roberto Veneziani, 2011. "Education, Growth And Distribution: Classical-Marxian Economic Thought And A Simple Model," Cahiers d’économie politique / Papers in Political Economy, L'Harmattan, issue 61, pages 157-186.
    7. Theodore W. Schultz, 1960. "Capital Formation by Education," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(6), pages 571-571.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chu, Angus C. & Kou, Zonglai & Wang, Xilin, 2023. "Class struggle in a Schumpeterian economy," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Gustavo Pereira Serra, 2023. "Household debt, student loan forgiveness, and human capital investment: a neo-Kaleckian approach," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 173-206, January.
    3. Gustavo Pereira Serra, 2021. "The First Harrod Problem and Human Capital Formation," Working Papers 2113, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    4. Stamegna, Marco, 2022. "Wage inequality and induced innovation in a classical-Marxian growth model," MPRA Paper 113805, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Human capital; Workers' savings; Growth; Distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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