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Human Capital, Technology Adoption and Development

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  • Cosar A. Kerem

    (University of Chicago Booth School of Business)

Abstract

This paper presents a model of development in which skilled labor is an input in technology adoption. The model combines Nelson and Phelps (1966) type technology dynamics with a growth model in which intermediate goods are used to produce a final good. The intermediate good producers hire skilled labor to increase their productivity by adopting techniques from an exogenously evolving stock of world knowledge. I solve for the stationary equilibrium and derive analytic expressions for steady state income level and wage premium. In a quantitative exercise, I calibrate the model and compare its predictions with data. The model successfully accounts for cross-country income differences and within-country wage premia on skilled labor. These results strengthen the idea that different types of human capital perform separate tasks and should not be aggregated into a single stock of human capital in development accounting exercises. The availability of skilled labor is potentially much more important for development than such aggregative exercises have so far suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • Cosar A. Kerem, 2011. "Human Capital, Technology Adoption and Development," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-41, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejmac:v:11:y:2011:i:1:n:5
    DOI: 10.2202/1935-1690.1907
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Masiliunas, Aidas & Mengel, Friederike & Reiss, J. Philipp, 2014. "Behavioral variation in Tullock contests," Working Paper Series in Economics 55, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    3. Das, Gouranga Gopal, 2015. "Why some countries are slow in acquiring new technologies? A model of trade-led diffusion and absorption," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 65-91.
    4. Dohse, Dirk & Ott, Ingrid, 2014. "Heterogenous skills, growth and convergence," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 52-67.
    5. Yazid Abdullahi Abubakar & Jay Mitra & Adeyeye Mercy Modupe, 2018. "Mobile Telephony and New Business Formation Rates in BRICS and Beyond: Does Human Capital Matter?," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 4(2), pages 137-158, July.
    6. Seda Köymen Özer & Selin Sayek Böke, 2017. "The Characteristics of Domestic Firms: Materializing Productivity Spillovers from FDI," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(11), pages 2562-2584, November.

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