IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/psc/journl/v10y2018i2p75-100.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factor-Biased Technical Change and Specialization Patterns

Author

Listed:
  • Jürgen Meckl

    (Justus Liebig University of Giessen)

  • Ivan Savin

    (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
    Université de Strasbourg
    Ural Federal University, Russian Federation)

Abstract

We analyze the medium- and long-run effects caused by an inflow of capital into a labor-abundant country. For that purpose, we incorporate directed technical change into a Heckscher-Ohlin model with a continuum of goods. This provides a comprehensive theory explaining the dynamics of comparative advantage based on differences in effective factor endowments, i.e. factor endowments adjusted by differences in technological levels. Our model constitutes an appropriate framework for understanding, e.g., the empirically observed changes in industrial structures of Central and Eastern European countries. Furthermore, we provide a theoretical foundation for the empirical Prospective Comparative Advantage index with new insights into the futuredynamics of comparative advantage. Eventually, we show the importance of research spillovers and state dependence on the process of convergence.

Suggested Citation

  • Jürgen Meckl & Ivan Savin, 2018. "Factor-Biased Technical Change and Specialization Patterns," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 10(2), pages 75-100, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:psc:journl:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:75-100
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://cejeme.org/publishedarticles/2018-57-24-636654418290781250-9638.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bucci, Alberto & Parello, Carmelo Pierpaolo, 2009. "Horizontal innovation-based growth and product market competition," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 213-221, January.
    2. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    3. Lee, Keun & Lim, Chaisung, 2001. "Technological regimes, catching-up and leapfrogging: findings from the Korean industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 459-483, March.
    4. Martin Bijsterbosch & Marcin Kolasa, 2010. "FDI and productivity convergence in Central and Eastern Europe: an industry-level investigation," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(4), pages 689-712, January.
    5. Bernardo S. Blum, 2010. "Endowments, Output, and the Bias of Directed Innovation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(2), pages 534-559.
    6. Rudiger Dornbusch & Stanley Fischer & Paul A. Samuelson, 1980. "Heckscher-Ohlin Trade Theory with a Continuum of Goods," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 95(2), pages 203-224.
    7. Petralia, Sergio & Balland, Pierre-Alexandre & Morrison, Andrea, 2017. "Climbing the ladder of technological development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 956-969.
    8. Cantner, Uwe & Pyka, Andreas, 2001. "Classifying technology policy from an evolutionary perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 759-775, May.
    9. Rodriguez-Clare, Andres, 2007. "Clusters and comparative advantage: Implications for industrial policy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 43-57, January.
    10. Helpman, Elhanan, 1993. "Innovation, Imitation, and Intellectual Property Rights," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(6), pages 1247-1280, November.
    11. Trefler, Daniel, 1993. "International Factor Price Differences: Leontief Was Right!," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(6), pages 961-987, December.
    12. Puga, Diego & Trefler, Daniel, 2010. "Wake up and smell the ginseng: International trade and the rise of incremental innovation in low-wage countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 64-76, January.
    13. Xiaodan Yu & Giovanni Dosi & Jiasu Lei & Alessandro Nuvolari, 2015. "Editor's Choice Institutional change and productivity growth in China’s manufacturing: the microeconomics of knowledge accumulation and "creative restructuring"," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(3), pages 565-602.
    14. Krugman, Paul, 1979. "A Model of Innovation, Technology Transfer, and the World Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(2), pages 253-266, April.
    15. Paul J.J. Welfens & Anna Wziątek-Kubiak (ed.), 2005. "Structural Change and Exchange Rate Dynamics," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-540-28526-7, June.
    16. Soete, Luc, 1987. "The impact of technological innovation on international trade patterns: The evidence reconsidered," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2-4), pages 101-130, August.
    17. Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz & Luis A. Rivera-Batiz, 2018. "Economic Integration and Endogenous Growth," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Francisco L Rivera-Batiz & Luis A Rivera-Batiz (ed.), International Trade, Capital Flows and Economic Development, chapter 1, pages 3-32, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    18. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1993. "Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262570971, April.
    19. Ray Barrell & Dawn Holland, 2000. "Foreign Direct Investment and Enterprise Restructuring in Central Europe," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 8(2), pages 477-504, July.
    20. Boschma, Ron & Capone, Gianluca, 2015. "Institutions and diversification: Related versus unrelated diversification in a varieties of capitalism framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1902-1914.
    21. Daron Acemoglu, 1998. "Why Do New Technologies Complement Skills? Directed Technical Change and Wage Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1055-1089.
    22. Trefler, Daniel, 1995. "The Case of the Missing Trade and Other Mysteries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1029-1046, December.
    23. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    24. Daron Acemoglu & Gino Gancia & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2015. "Offshoring and Directed Technical Change," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 84-122, July.
    25. Rodriguez-Clare, Andres, 2007. "Clusters and comparative advantage: Implications for industrial policy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 43-57, January.
    26. Andrea Zaghini, 2005. "Evolution of trade patterns in the new EU member states," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 13(4), pages 629-658, October.
    27. Philip Stevens, 2002. "The Role of Efficiency as an Explanation of International Income Differences," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 205, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    28. J. Peter Neary, 1985. "International Factor Mobility, Minimum Wage Rates, and Factor-Price Equalization: A Synthesis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(3), pages 551-570.
    29. Zhu, Susan Chun, 2007. "On the welfare implications of Southern catch-up," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 378-382, March.
    30. Zhu, Susan Chun & Trefler, Daniel, 2005. "Trade and inequality in developing countries: a general equilibrium analysis," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 21-48, January.
    31. Ivan Savin & Peter Winker, 2009. "Forecasting Russian Foreign Trade Comparative Advantages in the Context of a Potential WTO Accession," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 1(2), pages 111-138, November.
    32. Amartya Sen, 2008. "The Discipline of Economics," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 75(300), pages 617-628, November.
    33. Mario Cimoli & André A. Hofman & Nanno Mulder (ed.), 2010. "Innovation and Economic Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13996.
    34. Nigel Pain & Dawn Holland, 1998. "The Diffusion Of Innovations In Central And Eastern Europe: A Study Of The Determinants And Impact O," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 137, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Hausmann, Ricardo & Stock, Daniel P. & Yıldırım, Muhammed A., 2022. "Implied comparative advantage," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(8).
    2. Arnaud Costinot & Jonathan Vogel, 2010. "Matching and Inequality in the World Economy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(4), pages 747-786, August.
    3. Li, Xiaogang, 2020. "Innovation, market valuations, policy uncertainty and trade: Theory and evidence," ISU General Staff Papers 202001010800009179, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    4. Morrow, Peter M. & Trefler, Daniel, 2022. "How do endowments determine trade? quantifying the output mix, factor price, and skill-biased technology channels," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Nicholas Bloom & Paul Romer & Stephen J Terry & John Van Reenen, 2021. "Trapped Factors and China’s Impact on Global Growth [Competition and innovation: an inverted-U relationship]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(633), pages 156-191.
    7. Fang Wang & Zhaoyuan Xu & Xiaoyong Dai, 2023. "Is learning by exporting technology specific? Evidence from Chinese firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 275-304, February.
    8. Morrow, Peter M., 2010. "Ricardian-Heckscher-Ohlin comparative advantage: Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 137-151, November.
    9. Peter M. Morrow, 2008. "East is East and West is West: A Ricardian-Heckscher-Ohlin Model of Comparative Advantage," Working Papers 575, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    10. Elias Dinopoulos & Constantinos Syropoulos & Theofanis Tsoulouhas, 2023. "Global Innovation Contests," Games, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-24, February.
    11. Lal, K., 2004. "E-Business and Export Behavior: Evidence from Indian Firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 505-517, March.
    12. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Do Aid for Trade flows affect Technology Licensing in Recipient Countries?," EconStor Preprints 273419, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    13. Goo, Youngwan & Park, Hyun, 2007. "Economic growth and convergence with international differences in technology," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 145-168, March.
    14. Elias Dinopoulos & Constantinos Syropoulos, 2004. "Globalization, Factor Endowments and Scale-Invariant Growth," DEGIT Conference Papers c009_009, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    15. Bahar, Dany & Rosenow, Samuel & Stein, Ernesto & Wagner, Rodrigo, 2019. "Export take-offs and acceleration: Unpacking cross-sector linkages in the evolution of comparative advantage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 48-60.
    16. Daron Acemoglu & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2001. "Productivity Differences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 563-606.
    17. Daron Acemoglu & Gino Gancia & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2015. "Offshoring and Directed Technical Change," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 84-122, July.
    18. T. Gries & R. Grundmann & I. Palnau & M. Redlin, 2017. "Innovations, growth and participation in advanced economies - a review of major concepts and findings," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 293-351, April.
    19. Harald Fadinger & Pablo Fleiss, 2011. "Trade and Sectoral Productivity," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(555), pages 958-989, September.
    20. Gancia, Gino & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 2005. "Horizontal Innovation in the Theory of Growth and Development," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 111-170, Elsevier.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    comparative advantage; technological progress; dynamic processes; innovation; factor-biased technical change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies
    • 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:psc:journl:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:75-100. 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: Damian Jelito (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://cejeme.org/ .

    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.