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Managerial Skills Acquisition and the Theory of Economic Development

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  • Paul Beaudry
  • Patrick Francois

Abstract

Why don't all countries converge rapidly to the use of most efficient or best practice technologies? Micro level studies suggest managerial skills play a key role in the adoption of modern technologies. In this paper we model the interactive process between on-the-job managerial skill acquisition and the adoption of modern technology. We use the model to illustrate why some countries develop managerial skills quickly and adopt best practice technologies, while others stay backwards. The model also explains why managers will not migrate from rich countries to poor countries, as would be needed to generate convergence. Finally we show why standard growth accounting exercises will incorrectly attribute a large proportion of managerial skills' contribution to total factor productivity and we quantify the importance of this bias. Copyright , Wiley-Blackwell.

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  • Paul Beaudry & Patrick Francois, 2010. "Managerial Skills Acquisition and the Theory of Economic Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(1), pages 90-126.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:restud:v:77:y:2010:i:1:p:90-126
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-937X.2009.00571.x
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    2. Sergio Scicchitano, 2014. "The gender wage gap among Spanish managers," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(3), pages 327-344, May.
    3. Sampson, Thomas, 2013. "Brain drain or brain gain? Technology diffusion and learning on-the-job," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 162-176.
    4. Marco Biagetti & Sergio Scicchitano, 2016. "Are women in supervisory positions more discriminated against? A multinomial approach," Working Papers 2, Department of the Treasury, Ministry of the Economy and of Finance.
    5. Kang, Youngho & Kim, Ryoonhee & Whang, Unjung, 2023. "International knowledge transfers and capital structure of multinational affiliates: Evidence from expatriate managers as the transfer agents," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    6. Dasgupta, Kunal, 2012. "Learning and knowledge diffusion in a global economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 323-336.
    7. Leone Leonida & Antonio Giangreco & Sergio Scicchitano & Marco Biagetti, 2023. "Britain and BrExit: Is the UK more attractive to supervisors? An analysis of the wage premium to supervision across the EU," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(2), pages 291-312, June.
    8. Luminita Popescu & Anica Iancu & Marioara Avram & Daniel Avram & Virgil Popescu, 2020. "The Role of Managerial Skills in the Sustainable Development of SMEs in Mehedinti County, Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, February.
    9. Erzo G. J. Luttmer, 2014. "An Assignment Model of Knowledge Diffusion and Income Inequality," Working Papers 715, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    10. Alexander Monge-Naranjo, 2012. "Knowledge Spillovers and The Optimal Taxation of Multinational Firms," 2012 Meeting Papers 593, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    11. Shengzhong Huang & Chan Lyu & Xiaojun Lin, 2018. "Is Labor Related to the Duality of Earnings Smoothing?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, November.
    12. Paul Beaudry & Patrick Francois, 2007. "The Economics of Inefficient Technology Use," NBER Working Papers 13500, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Sergio Scicchitano, 2015. "Exploring the gender wage gap in the managerial labour market:a counterfactual decomposition analysis," Working Papers 2, Department of the Treasury, Ministry of the Economy and of Finance.
    14. Biagetti, Marco & Giangreco, Antonio & Leonida, Leone & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2020. "BrExit or BritaIn: Is the UK more Attractive to Supervisors? An Analysis of Wage Premium to Supervision across the EU," GLO Discussion Paper Series 510, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Max Gillman, 2019. "A Human Capital Theory of Structural Transformation," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp648, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    16. Braunerhjelm, Pontus & Lappi, Emma, 2023. "Employees' entrepreneurial human capital and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    17. Chakraborty, Pavel & Chakrabarti, Anindya S. & Chatterjee, Chirantan, 2023. "Cross-border environmental regulation and firm labor demand," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    18. Gillman, Max, 2021. "Steps in industrial development through human capital deepening," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    19. Alexander Monge-Naranjo, 2012. "Foreign firms and the diffusion of knowledge," Working Papers 2012-055, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    20. Alexander Monge-Naranjo, 2016. "Openness and the Optimal Taxation of Foreign Know-How," Working Papers 2016-20, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    21. Marco Biagetti & Sergio Scicchitano, 2014. "Estimating the Gender Pay Gap in the Managerial and non Managerial Italian Labor Market," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(3), pages 1846-1856.
    22. Catherine Laffineur & Maria Minniti & Benjamin Montmartin, 2023. "Does Knowledge in Management Foster Firm Creation and Performance?," GREDEG Working Papers 2023-19, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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