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Productivity Differences in an Interdependent World

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  • Fadinger, Harald

Abstract

This paper studies cross country differences in productivity from an open economy perspective by using a Helpman-Krugman-Heckscher-Ohlin model. This allows to combine tools from development accounting and the trade literature. When simultaneously fitting data on income, factor prices and the factor content of trade, I find that rich countries have far higher productivities of human capital than poor ones, while differences in physical capital productivity are not systematically related to income per worker. I estimate an aggregate elasticity of substitution between human and physical capital that is significantly below one, clearly rejecting a world that consists of a collection of Cobb-Douglas economies and also one where Heckscher-Ohlin trade is important.

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  • Fadinger, Harald, 2008. "Productivity Differences in an Interdependent World," MPRA Paper 7603, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:7603
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    Cited by:

    1. Gino Gancia & Andreas Müller & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2010. "Structural development accounting," Economics Working Papers 1249, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Feb 2011.
    2. 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).
    3. Peter M. Morrow & Daniel Trefler, 2017. "Endowments, Skill-Biased Technology, and Factor Prices: A Unified Approach to Trade," NBER Working Papers 24078, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jaume Ventura, 2012. "Comment on "How Do Laffer Curves Differ Across Countries?"," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis, pages 249-253, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Robert Zymek & Alejandro Cunat, 2017. "International Value-Added Linkages in Development Accounting," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 281, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    6. Wenya Cheng & John Morrow, 2018. "Firm Productivity Differences From Factor Markets," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(1), pages 126-171, March.
    7. Marshall, Kathryn G., 2012. "International productivity and factor price comparisons," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 386-390.
    8. Nishioka, Shuichiro, 2013. "R&D, trade in intermediate inputs, and the comparative advantage of advanced countries," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 96-110.
    9. Nishioka, Shuichiro, 2012. "International differences in production techniques: Implications for the factor content of trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 98-104.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heckscher-Ohlin; Productivity Differences; Development Accounting; Open Economy Growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • F11 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Neoclassical Models of Trade
    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies

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