Investigating the robustness of the skill-biased technical change hypothesis, this analysis incorporates two novel features. First, effective labor is modeled as the product of a quantity measure - number of employees with a given level of education - and a quality index, depending on, i.a.,...

We present a model of firm investment under uncertainty and partial irreversibility in which uncertainty is represented by a jump diffusion. This allows to represent both the continuous Gaussian volatility and the discontinuous uncertainty related to information arrival, sudden changes and large...

This study investigates whether capital-skill complementarity is the explanation for skill-biased technical change. For this to be the case, capital-skill complementarity must exist in the first place and, secondly, all technical change must be embodied in nature, i.e. embedded in new capital...

In this paper we study the capital adjustment process in Swedish manufacturing firms and relate the empirical findings to standard models of firm behavior in the presence of impediments to capital adjustments. We find that (i) a model with irreversible capital goes a very long way in capturing...

This paper employs the Time Varying Panel Smooth Transition Regression (TV-PSTR) model to investigate the effects of India's dramatic trade liberalization starting from 1991 on market efficiency and productivity growth using Indian manufacturing firm data. We find that the effects of...

The rising trade in intermediate goods accounts for almost two-thirds of world's trade (MGI, 2019). India's export share for intermediate goods in its total exports has increased from 31.18% in 2011 to 32.52% in 2016. Moreover, India's overall share in world merchandise exports has itself...

This paper examines direct and indirect contributions of foreign firms and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to aggregate productivity growth. We focus our attention on foreign firms and small firms for three reasons. First, industrial policy in almost all countries is oriented towards...

This paper aims to contribute to the extensive study of the World Bank Commission on Growth and Development by a case study of the Turkish automotive and the consumer electronics industries. Despite a macroeconomic environment that inhibits investment and growth, both industries have achieved...

Several studies have highlighted that African manufacturing wages are higher than comparator countries at similar levels of development, which contributes to the continent's lower levels of manufacturing competitiveness. This paper derives unit labor costs - average wages relative to...

This paper examines the productivity effects of privately and publicly funded R&D, both performed in the private sector. In doing so, it ascertains whether there are differences in the direct effects on an industry's total factor productivity growth, and whether the spillover effects of R&D...