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Productivity, structural change, and skills dynamics: Evidence from a half-century analysis

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Listed:
  • Gunes Asik
  • Ulas Karakoc
  • Mohamed Ali Marouani
  • Michelle Marshalian

Abstract

This paper explores the contribution of structural change and the skill upgrading of the labour force to productivity. Our growth decomposition based on an original database we built for Tunisia and Turkey shows that productivity is mainly explained by intra-industry changes during the import substitution period. Second, we show that this productivity increase has been driven by the reallocation of higher-educated labour between sectors rather than the absorption of highly educated workers within sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Gunes Asik & Ulas Karakoc & Mohamed Ali Marouani & Michelle Marshalian, 2020. "Productivity, structural change, and skills dynamics: Evidence from a half-century analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-18, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2020-18
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Margarida Duarte & Diego Restuccia, 2010. "The Role of the Structural Transformation in Aggregate Productivity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(1), pages 129-173.
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    Keywords

    MENA; Productivity; Skills; Structural change; Tunisia; Turkey;
    All these keywords.

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