When types of workers are imperfect substitutes, the Mincerian rate to return to human capital is negatively related to the supply of human capital. We work out a simple model for the joint evolution of output and wage dispersion. We estimate this model using cross-country panel data on GDP and...

When types of workers are imperfect substitutes, the Mincerian rate of return to human capital is negatively related to the supply of human capital. We work out a simple model for the joint evolution of output and wage dispersion. We estimate this model using cross-country panel data on GDP and...

The paper applies Ricardo's principle of comparative advantage to analyze the substitutability between types of labor. The problem of having to classify labor in a small number of types in e.g. standard CES models are avoided by applying a continuum of worker and job types, where better skilled...