We calibrate a two-sector span-of-control model and show that size-dependent labor regulations generate the observed employment distribution across manufacturing establishments in India. We find that such regulations in manufacturing reduce productivity in agriculture and impede the process of...

Labor regulations in India increase the cost of hiring labor for larger establishments and have been cited as an important reason for the lack of mid-sized establishments in the manufacturing sector. Using data for India, we calibrate a two-sector model in which agents differ in their managerial...

For fifteen European countries over the 1970-2004 period we establish that there is a large and persistent agricultural productivity gap, the ratio of labor productivity in non-agriculture to that in agriculture. Correcting for under-reporting of self-employment income in both agriculture and...

This paper deals with a classic development question: how can the process of economic development – transition from stagnation in a traditional technology to industrialization and prosperity with a modern technology – be accelerated? Lewis (1954) and Rostow (1956) argue that the pace of...

This paper quantifies the relative importance of sectoral productivity and labor market distortions for structural change. I use a model in which labor productivity is the product of TFP and human capital in each sector, but distortions generate wedges in wage per efficiency worker across...

This paper develops a general equilibrium model to quantitatively explain high labor share, low productivity and small farm size in agriculture in low income countries. The model features individual heterogeneity in skill that is augmentable over time and endogenous occupation choice. Calibrated...

This paper deals with a classic development question: how can the process of economic development – transition from stagnation in a traditional technology to industrialization and prosperity with a modern technology – be accelerated? Lewis (1954) and Rostow (1956) argue that the pace of...

This paper deals with a classic development question: how can the process of economic development – transition from stagnation in a traditional technology to industrialization and prosperity with a modern technology – be accelerated? Lewis (1954) and Rostow (1956) argue that the pace of...

Most of the growth accounting literature relies on an aggregate production function to determine the contribution of factors of production relative to that of total factor productivity (TFP) in explaining differences in incomes across countries. I show that the importance of TFP in accounting...