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Human Capital, Aggregation, And Growth

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  • Growiec, Jakub

Abstract

Human capital is embodied in people of different generations whose lifetimes are finite. We show that the finiteness of people's lives precludes human capital accumulation from driving long-run aggregate economic growth unless sufficiently strong externalities from aggregate human capital are introduced. Two possible channels for carrying forward such externalities are (i) knowledge spillovers and (ii) public education spending. Our findings shed new light on the foundations of the Uzawa–Lucas growth model. We also show that the cross-sectional Mincer equation, generated by a linear human capital accumulation equation at the individual level, does not carry forward to aggregate data.

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  • Growiec, Jakub, 2010. "Human Capital, Aggregation, And Growth," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 189-211, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:macdyn:v:14:y:2010:i:02:p:189-211_09
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    Cited by:

    1. Coppier, Raffaella & Sabatini, Fabio & Sodini, Mauro, 2021. "Social Capital, Human Capital, And Fertility," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 632-650, April.
    2. Growiec, Jakub, 2010. "Human Capital, Aggregation, And Growth," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 189-211, April.
    3. Jakub Growiec & Christian Groth, 2012. "A Note on Aggregating Human Capital Across Heterogeneous Cohorts," EcoMod2012 4193, EcoMod.
    4. Growiec, Jakub & Groth, Christian, 2015. "On aggregating human capital across heterogeneous cohorts," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 21-38.
    5. Jakub Growiec, 2019. "The Hardware–Software Model: A New Conceptual Framework of Production, R&D, and Growth with AI," Working Paper series 19-18, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    6. Christian Groth & Jakub Growiec, 2017. "Do Mincerian Wage Equations Inform How Schooling Influences Productivity?," EUSP Department of Economics Working Paper Series 2017/04, European University at St. Petersburg, Department of Economics.
    7. Łukasz Jabłoński, 2021. "Ewolucja podejść do kapitału ludzkiego w naukach ekonomicznych," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 2, pages 91-120.
    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.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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