IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jecrev/v62y2011i3p305-330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technological Change, Human Capital Structure, And Multiple Growth Paths

Author

Listed:
  • YONG JIN KIM
  • JONG‐WHA LEE

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical model to analyze the effects of technology change on growth rates of income and human capital in the uncertain environments of technology. The uncertainty comes from two sources; the possibility of a technology advance and the characteristics of new technologies. We set up an overlapping generations model in which young agents invest in both width and depth of human capital in order to adopt new technologies. The model develops explicitly the micro-mechanism of the role of human capital in adopting new technologies as well as that of the process of human capital production in uncertain environments. In our model, a higher level for width of human capital relative to the level of depth leads one country to a higher growth path. We also show that an economy can have different growth paths depending on the initial structure of human capital and the uncertainty about the nature of new technologies. In particular, new technologies with more uncertain characteristics may adversely affect human capital accumulation and income growth, leading the economy to a low growth trap.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Yong Jin Kim & Jong‐Wha Lee, 2011. "Technological Change, Human Capital Structure, And Multiple Growth Paths," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 62(3), pages 305-330, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jecrev:v:62:y:2011:i:3:p:305-330
    DOI: j.1468-5876.2009.00507.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1468-5876.2009.00507.x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/j.1468-5876.2009.00507.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francesco Caselli & Wilbur John Coleman, 2001. "Cross-Country Technology Diffusion: The Case of Computers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 328-335, May.
    2. Helpman, Elhanan & Rangel, Antonio, 1999. "Adjusting to a New Technology: Experience and Training," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 359-383, December.
    3. Borensztein, E. & De Gregorio, J. & Lee, J-W., 1998. "How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth?1," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 115-135, June.
    4. Daron Acemoglu & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2001. "Productivity Differences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 563-606.
    5. Oded Galor & Omer Moav, 2000. "Ability-Biased Technological Transition, Wage Inequality, and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 469-497.
    6. Oded Galor, 2006. "The Demographic Transition," Working Papers 2006-24, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    7. Eaton, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S, 1980. "Taxation, Human Capital, and Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(4), pages 705-715, September.
    8. Galor, Oded & Tsiddon, Daniel, 1991. "Technological breakthroughs and development traps," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 11-17, September.
    9. Redding, Stephen, 1996. "The Low-Skill, Low-Quality Trap: Strategic Complementarities between Human Capital and R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(435), pages 458-470, March.
    10. Benhabib, Jess & Spiegel, Mark M., 1994. "The role of human capital in economic development evidence from aggregate cross-country data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 143-173, October.
    11. Howitt, Peter & Aghion, Philippe, 2006. "Appropriate Growth Policy: A Unifying Framework," Scholarly Articles 4554121, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    12. Nancy L. Stokey, 1991. "Human Capital, Product Quality, and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 587-616.
    13. Jérôme Vandenbussche & Philippe Aghion & Costas Meghir, 2006. "Growth, distance to frontier and composition of human capital," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 97-127, June.
    14. Levhari, David & Weiss, Yoram, 1974. "The Effect of Risk on the Investment in Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(6), pages 950-963, December.
    15. Eaton, B Curtis & Schmitt, Nicolas, 1994. "Flexible Manufacturing and Market Structure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 875-888, September.
    16. Jerik Hanushek & Dennis Kimko, 2006. "Schooling, Labor-force Quality, and the Growth of Nations," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 1, pages 154-193.
    17. Costas Azariadis & Allan Drazen, 1990. "Threshold Externalities in Economic Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(2), pages 501-526.
    18. Francesco Caselli, 1999. "Technological Revolutions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 78-102, March.
    19. Eric A. Hanushek, 2003. "The Failure of Input-Based Schooling Policies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages 64-98, February.
    20. 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.
    21. Paroush, Jacob, 1976. "The risk effect and investment in human capital," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 339-347, December.
    22. Parente, Stephen L & Prescott, Edward C, 1994. "Barriers to Technology Adoption and Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(2), pages 298-321, April.
    23. Bartel, Ann P & Lichtenberg, Frank R, 1987. "The Comparative Advantage of Educated Workers in Implementing New Technology," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(1), pages 1-11, February.
    24. 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.
    25. Chari, V V & Hopenhayn, Hugo, 1991. "Vintage Human Capital, Growth, and the Diffusion of New Technology," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(6), pages 1142-1165, December.
    26. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong Wha, 1996. "International Measures of Schooling Years and Schooling Quality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 218-223, May.
    27. Huw Lloyd-Ellis, 1999. "Endogenous Technological Change and Wage Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 47-77, March.
    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. Khan, Zeeshan & Malik, Muhammad Yousaf & Latif, Kashmala & Jiao, Zhilun, 2020. "Heterogeneous effect of eco-innovation and human capital on renewable & non-renewable energy consumption: Disaggregate analysis for G-7 countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    2. Sara Barcenilla-Visús & José-María Gómez-Sancho & Carmen López-Pueyo & María-Jesús Mancebón & Jaime Sanaú, 2013. "Technical Change, Efficiency Change and Institutions: Empirical Evidence for a Sample of OECD Countries," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(285), pages 207-227, June.
    3. Cheng Jin & Asif Razzaq & Faiza Saleem & Avik Sinha, 2022. "Asymmetric effects of eco-innovation and human capital development in realizing environmental sustainability in China: evidence from quantile ARDL framework," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 4947-4970, December.
    4. Bright Akwasi Gyamfi & Stephen Taiwo Onifade & Elvis Kwame Ofori, 2023. "Synthesizing the impacts of information and communication technology advancement and educational developments on environmental sustainability: A comparative analyses of three economic blocs—BRICS, MIN," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 744-759, April.
    5. Yeo, Yeongjun & Lee, Jeong-Dong, 2020. "Revitalizing the race between technology and education: Investigating the growth strategy for the knowledge-based economy based on a CGE analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    6. Ha, Joonkyung & Jin Kim, Yong & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2009. "The Optimal Structure of Technology Adoption and Creation: Basic Research vs. Development in the Presence of Distance to Frontier," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 163, Asian Development Bank.
    7. Teixeira, Aurora A.C. & Queirós, Anabela S.S., 2016. "Economic growth, human capital and structural change: A dynamic panel data analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1636-1648.
    8. Orlando Gomes, 2022. "Human capital and growth in an OLG-life cycle model," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-26, January.
    9. Tang, Chor Foon & Abosedra, Salah & Naghavi, Navaz, 2021. "Does the quality of institutions and education strengthen the quality of the environment? Evidence from a global perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    10. Xiao Dai & Liang Yan & Liu Jianping & JianWu, 2022. "A research on the threshold effect of human capital structure upgrading and industrial structure upgrading—based on the perspective of path dependence," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2645-2674, August.
    11. Saibal Kar & Chaitali Sinha, 2014. "Sectoral Technical Progress and Aggregate Skill Formation," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 159-172, June.

    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. Yong Jin Kim & Jong-Wha Lee, 1999. "Technological Change, Investment in Human Capital, and Economic Growth," CID Working Papers 29, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    2. Lloyd-Ellis, Huw & Roberts, Joanne, 2002. "Twin Engines of Growth: Skills and Technology as Equal Partners in Balanced Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 87-115, June.
    3. Huw Lloyd-Ellis & Joanne Roberts, 2000. "Twin Engines of Growth," Cahiers de recherche CREFE / CREFE Working Papers 118, CREFE, Université du Québec à Montréal.
    4. Adriaan Zon & Roberto Antonietti, 2016. "Education and training in a model of endogenous growth with creative wear-and-tear," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 33(1), pages 35-62, April.
    5. Mastromarco, Camilla & Ghosh, Sucharita, 2009. "Foreign Capital, Human Capital, and Efficiency: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis for Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 489-502, February.
    6. Acemoglu, Daron & Gancia, Gino & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 2012. "Competing engines of growth: Innovation and standardization," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 147(2), pages 570-601.3.
    7. Schiffbauer, Marc, 2006. "Theoretical and methodological study on the role of public policies in fostering innovation and growth," Papers DYNREG04, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    8. Eric A. Hanushek & Ludger Woessmann, 2008. "The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(3), pages 607-668, September.
    9. Peter J. Klenow & Mark Bils, 2000. "Does Schooling Cause Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1160-1183, December.
    10. Zainab Asif & Radhika Lahiri, 2021. "Dimensions of human capital and technological diffusion," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 941-967, February.
    11. Mihaela Iulia Pintea & Peter Thompson, 2007. "Technological Complexity and Economic Growth," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 10(2), pages 276-293, April.
    12. Chapman, Bruce, 2006. "Income Contingent Loans for Higher Education: International Reforms," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 25, pages 1435-1503, Elsevier.
    13. Fulvio Castellacci, 2007. "Technological regimes and sectoral differences in productivity growth ," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 16(6), pages 1105-1145, December.
    14. Rosa Bernardini Papalia & Silvia Bertarelli & Carlo Filippucci, 2011. "Human capital, technological spillovers and development across OECD countries," Working Papers 15, AlmaLaurea Inter-University Consortium.
    15. Jorge Saba Arbache, 2001. "Trade Liberalisation and Labor Markets in Developing Countries: Theory and Evidence," Studies in Economics 0112, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    16. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    17. Eicher, Theo S. & Garcia-Penalosa, Cecilia, 2001. "Inequality and growth: the dual role of human capital in development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 173-197, October.
    18. Basu, Sujata & Keswani Mehra, Meeta, 2014. "Endogenous human capital formation, distance to frontier and growth," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 117-132.
    19. Sergio Scicchitano, 2010. "Complementarity between heterogeneous human capital and R&D: can job-training avoid low development traps?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 361-380, November.
    20. Weinberg, Bruce A., 2004. "Experience and Technology Adoption," IZA Discussion Papers 1051, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    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:bla:jecrev:v:62:y:2011:i:3:p:305-330. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/jeaaaea.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.