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Old teachers, old ideas, and the effect of population aging on economic growth

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  • Berk, Jillian
  • Weil, David N.

Abstract

As populations age, the degree to which workers׳ human capital reflects the cutting edge of technology falls because education took place further in the past. This “pure vintage” effect of aging is well known. In this paper, we explore a second effect of aging: in an older population, older teachers pass on knowledge that was current further in the past. We show that this “teacher multiplier” can significantly increase the technological backwardness of the labor force. We present both an analytic model that can be solved for steady states and a numerical model that can describe transitions in the average vintage of human capital as population age structure changes over time. We also discuss evidence on the effect of age on the technological up-to-dateness of workers in general and teachers in particular.

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  • Berk, Jillian & Weil, David N., 2015. "Old teachers, old ideas, and the effect of population aging on economic growth," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 661-670.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:69:y:2015:i:4:p:661-670
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rie.2015.07.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Annarita BALDANZI & Alberto BUCCI & Klaus PRETTNER, 2016. "The Effects of Health Investments on Human Capital and R&D-Driven Economic Growth," Departmental Working Papers 2016-17, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    2. Akira Momota, 2022. "Long lifespan and optimal recurrent education," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 1193-1222, May.
    3. Baldanzi, Annarita & Bucci, Alberto & Prettner, Klaus, 2021. "Children’S Health, Human Capital Accumulation, And R&D-Based Economic Growth," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 651-668, April.
    4. Dong-Hyeon Kim & Peiyao Liu & Shu-Chin Lin, 2024. "The moderating role of financial development in the nexus between population aging and saving," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-32, April.
    5. Katarzyna Maj-Waśniowska & Tomasz Jedynak, 2020. "The Issues and Challenges of Local Government Units in the Era of Population Ageing," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, June.
    6. Wen-Yi Chen, 2017. "Demographic structure and monetary policy effectiveness: evidence from Taiwan," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 2521-2544, November.

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