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Investment and labor income shares

Author

Listed:
  • Georgios Chortareas

    (King’s College London
    National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
    King’s College London)

  • Emmanouil Noikokyris

    (Kingston University London
    King’s College London)

Abstract

We explore empirically the determinants of labor shares focusing on the role of investment. We use a cross-country framework and consider up to 99 countries for the period 2004–2015. Our results reveal that the level of a country’s investment is a significant driving factor of the labor share of income. This evidence is in line with the predictions of neoclassical mechanisms for the role of investment in labor share. Among several other factors that we consider, as suggested by the extant empirical literature, we find strong evidence only for the degree of a country’s exposure to the international financial system, which is inversely related to the labor shares. Moreover, economic freedom amplifies the positive effect of gross fixed capital formation on labor income shares.

Suggested Citation

  • Georgios Chortareas & Emmanouil Noikokyris, 2021. "Investment and labor income shares," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 807-820, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:54:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s10644-020-09268-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10644-020-09268-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alexander Guschanski & Özlem Onaran, 2018. "Determinants of the Wage Share: A Cross-country Comparison Using Sectoral Data," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 19(02), pages 44-54, July.
    2. Engelbert Stockhammer, 2017. "Determinants of the Wage Share: A Panel Analysis of Advanced and Developing Economies," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(1), pages 3-33, March.
    3. Brent Neiman, 2014. "The Global Decline of the Labor Share," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(1), pages 61-103.
    4. Arjun Jayadev, 2007. "Capital account openness and the labour share of income," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 31(3), pages 423-443, May.
    5. Guerriero, Marta & Sen, Kunal, 2012. "What Determines the Share of Labour in National Income? A Cross-Country Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 6643, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Robert Z. Lawrence, 2015. "Recent Declines in Labor's Share in US Income: A Preliminary Neoclassical Account," NBER Working Papers 21296, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. A. B. Atkinson, 2009. "Factor shares: the principal problem of political economy?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 3-16, Spring.
    8. Lane, Philip R. & Milesi-Ferretti, Gian Maria, 2007. "The external wealth of nations mark II: Revised and extended estimates of foreign assets and liabilities, 1970-2004," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 223-250, November.
    9. Douglas Gollin, 2002. "Getting Income Shares Right," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 458-474, April.
    10. Lane, Philip & Milesi-Ferretti, Gian Maria, "undated". "External Wealth of Nations," Instructional Stata datasets for econometrics extwealth, Boston College Department of Economics.
    11. Margaret M. Jacobson & Filippo Occhino, 2012. "Labor's declining share of income and rising inequality," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Sept.
    12. Furceri, Davide & Loungani, Prakash, 2018. "The distributional effects of capital account liberalization," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 127-144.
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    Cited by:

    1. Raihan, Selim, 2022. "What Does Data on Functional Income Distribution tell us about Trends in and Correlates of Income Inequality in The Asia-Pacific?," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(3), pages 45-64.
    2. Ibarra, Carlos A. & Ros, Jaime, 2023. "Trade and factor intensity, and the transmission of the global shock to labor: A panel analysis of the fall of the labor income share in the Mexican manufacturing sector," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(1).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor share; Capital formation; R&D expenses;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • F66 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Labor

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