(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Cross-country Variation in Factor Shares and its Implications for Development Accounting
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/red/sed010/152.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Cross-country Variation in Factor Shares and its Implications for Development Accounting

Author

Listed:
  • Brad Sturgill

    (North Carolina State University)

Abstract

The stability of factor shares has long been considered one of the “stylized facts” of macroeconomics. However, the relationship between cross-country factor shares and economic development is dependent on how factor shares are measured. Most factor share studies acknowledge only two factors of production: total capital and total labor. The failure to acknowledge more than two factors yields misleading results. In the first part of the paper, I distinguish between reproducible and non-reproducible factors of production. I disentangle physical capital’s share from natural capital’s share and human capital’s share from unskilled labor’s share. Results reveal that non-reproducible factor shares decrease with the stage of economic development, and reproducible factor shares increase with the stage of economic development. This suggests that studies relying on the macroeconomic paradigm of constant factor shares should be revisited. Development accounting nearly always assumes the constancy of factor shares. In the second part of the paper, I perform the development accounting exercise but allow factor shares to vary and distinguish between reproducible and non-reproducible factors. My approach yields results that stand in stark contrast to those previously attained. The general consensus is that at least half of the cross-country variation in output per worker accrues to the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) residual. With my approach, the majority of variation in output per worker accrues to factor shares, specifically physical capital’s share and natural capital’s share. The explanatory power of the TFP residual decreases by more than 30 percentage points. This evidence does not, however, diminish the role of technical change. Rather, the evidence indicates the importance of acknowledging a new type of technical change, one that impacts factor shares.

Suggested Citation

  • Brad Sturgill, 2010. "Cross-country Variation in Factor Shares and its Implications for Development Accounting," 2010 Meeting Papers 152, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed010:152
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://red-files-public.s3.amazonaws.com/meetpapers/2010/paper_152.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for Cross-Country Income Differences," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 679-741, Elsevier.
    2. Zeira, Joseph, 2005. "Machines as Engines of Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 5429, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Jones, Larry E. & Manuelli, Rodolfo E., 1997. "The sources of growth," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 75-114, January.
    4. Peretto, Pietro F. & Seater, John J., 2013. "Factor-eliminating technical change," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 459-473.
    5. Scott L. Baier & Gerald P. Dwyer & Robert Tamura, 2006. "How Important are Capital and Total Factor Productivity for Economic Growth?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(1), pages 23-49, January.
    6. Boldrin, Michele & Levine, David K., 2002. "Factor Saving Innovation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 18-41, July.
    7. George Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos, 2004. "Returns to investment in education: a further update," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 111-134.
    8. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong-Wha, 1993. "International comparisons of educational attainment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 363-394, December.
    9. Gary D. Hansen & Edward C. Prescott, 2002. "Malthus to Solow," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 1205-1217, September.
    10. Douglas Gollin, 2002. "Getting Income Shares Right," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 458-474, April.
    11. Duffy, John & Papageorgiou, Chris, 2000. "A Cross-Country Empirical Investigation of the Aggregate Production Function Specification," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 87-120, March.
    12. Michael J. Boskin & Lawrence J. Lau, 2000. "Generalized Solow-Neutral Technical Progress and Postwar Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 8023, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Hernando Zuleta, 2008. "An empirical note on factor shares," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 379-390.
    14. Francesco Caselli & James Feyrer, 2007. "The Marginal Product of Capital," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 535-568.
    15. Hernando Zuleta, 2008. "Factor Saving Innovations and Factor Income Shares," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(4), pages 836-851, October.
    16. Hernando Zuleta, 2007. "Why labor income shares seem to be constant?," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 551-557.
    17. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for cross-country income differences," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 5266, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    19. Oded Galor & David N. Weil, 1998. "Population, Technology, and Growth: From Malthusian Stagnation to the Demographic Transition," Working Papers 98-3, Brown University, Department of Economics, revised 19 Aug 1998.
    20. Ben S. Bernanke & Refet S. Gürkaynak, 2002. "Is Growth Exogenous? Taking Mankiw, Romer, and Weil Seriously," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2001, Volume 16, pages 11-72, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. David N. Weil & Oded Galor, 2000. "Population, Technology, and Growth: From Malthusian Stagnation to the Demographic Transition and Beyond," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 806-828, September.
    22. Vollrath, Dietrich, 2009. "How important are dual economy effects for aggregate productivity?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 325-334, March.
    23. John Bound & George Johnson, 1995. "What are the causes of rising wage inequality in the United States?," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue Jan, pages 9-17.
    24. F. A. Lutz, 1961. "The Theory of Capital," International Economic Association Series, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-08452-4 edited by D. C. Hague.
    25. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for cross-country income differences," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 3567, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    26. C. E. Ferguson, 1965. "The Elasticity of Substitution and the Savings Ratio in the Neoclassical Theory of Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 79(3), pages 465-471.
    27. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1998. "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed the Labor Market?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1169-1213.
    28. Peter J. Klenow & Andrés Rodríguez-Clare, 1997. "The Neoclassical Revival in Growth Economics: Has It Gone Too Far?," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1997, Volume 12, pages 73-114, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    29. Sato, Ryuzo, 1970. "The Estimation of Biased Technical Progress and the Production Function," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 11(2), pages 179-208, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carolina Arteaga Cabrales, 2011. "Human Capital Externalities and Growth," Revista ESPE - Ensayos Sobre Política Económica, Banco de la República, vol. 29(66), pages 12-47, December.
    2. Hernando Zuleta, 2015. "Factor shares, inequality, and capital flows," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(2), pages 647-667, October.
    3. Brian Piper, 2014. "Factor-Specific Productivity," Working Papers 1401, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
    4. Andrés Álvarez & Camilo Gómez & Hernando Zuleta & Camilo Acosta, 2019. "Birth Rates, Factor Shares, and Growth," Documentos CEDE 17318, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    5. Bassetti, Thomas & Favaro, Donata, 2009. "A growth model with time allocation and social participation," MPRA Paper 15969, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Zuleta, Hernando, 2009. "If factor shares are not constant then we have a measurment problem. can we solve it?," Documentos de Trabajo 5744, Universidad del Rosario.
    7. Voyvoda, Ebru & Yeldan, Erinç, 2015. "Public policy and growth in Canada: An applied endogenous growth model with human and knowledge capital accumulation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 298-309.
    8. Hernando Zuleta, 2011. "Factor Shares, Income Distribution and Capital Flows," DEGIT Conference Papers c016_003, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    9. Zuleta, Hernando, 2012. "Variable factor shares, measurement and growth accounting," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 91-93.
    10. Marcello Spanò, 2012. "The Effect Of Openness On Foreign Reserves And Growth In The Emerging Economies," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1, pages 7-23, March.
    11. Thomas Bassetti & Donata Favaro, 2011. "A Growth Model with Gender Inequality in Employment, Human Capital, and Socio-Political Participation," CHILD Working Papers wp14_11, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sturgill, Brad, 2012. "The relationship between factor shares and economic development," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1044-1062.
    2. Sturgill, Brad, 2014. "Back to the basics: Revisiting the development accounting methodology," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 52-68.
    3. Peretto, Pietro F. & Seater, John J., 2013. "Factor-eliminating technical change," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 459-473.
    4. Jones, C.I., 2016. "The Facts of Economic Growth," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 3-69, Elsevier.
    5. Jerzmanowski, Michal, 2007. "Total factor productivity differences: Appropriate technology vs. efficiency," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(8), pages 2080-2110, November.
    6. Jonathan Temple & Ludger Wößmann, 2006. "Dualism and cross-country growth regressions," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 187-228, September.
    7. Charles I. Jones & Paul M. Romer, 2010. "The New Kaldor Facts: Ideas, Institutions, Population, and Human Capital," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 224-245, January.
    8. Hernando Zuleta, 2015. "Getting Growth Accounting Right," Documentos CEDE 13814, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    9. Mike Waugh & David Lagakos & Doug Gollin, 2011. "The Agricultural Productivity Gap in Developing Countries," 2011 Meeting Papers 1397, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. Chad Turner & Robert Tamura & Sean Mulholland, 2013. "How important are human capital, physical capital and total factor productivity for determining state economic growth in the United States, 1840–2000?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 319-371, December.
    11. Francesco Caselli & Wilbur John Coleman II, 2006. "The World Technology Frontier," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 499-522, June.
    12. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    13. Mendez-Guerra, Carlos, 2020. "Labor Productivity, Capital Accumulation, and Aggregate Efficiency Across Countries: New Evidence for an Old Debate," MPRA Paper 99268, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Andrés O. Dávila & Manuel Fernández & Hernando Zuleta, 2021. "The Natural Resource Boom and The Uneven Fall of The Labor Share," Documentos CEDE 19427, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    15. Douglas Gollin & David Lagakos & Michael E. Waugh, 2014. "The Agricultural Productivity Gap," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(2), pages 939-993.
    16. Tamura, Robert & Dwyer, Jerry & Devereux, John & Baier, Scott, 2019. "Economic growth in the long run," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 1-35.
    17. Dawson, John W. & Sturgill, Brad, 2022. "Market Institutions and Factor Shares Across Countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 266-289.
    18. Danish Ahmed SIDDIQUI & Qazi Masood AHMED, 2019. "Are institutions a crucial determinant of cross country economic efficiency? A two-stage double bootstrap data envelopment analysis," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(1(618), S), pages 89-114, Spring.
    19. Zuleta, Hernando, 2009. "If factor shares are not constant then we have a measurment problem. can we solve it?," Documentos de Trabajo 5744, Universidad del Rosario.
    20. Fadinger, Harald, 2011. "Productivity differences in an interdependent world," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 221-232, July.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:red:sed010:152. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christian Zimmermann (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sedddea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.