Green technological progress,agricultural modernization,and wage inequality: Lessons from China

Green technological progress (GTP) is crucial for environmental protection and economic growth in China. Over the past decades, China made huge GTP which exerts a far-reaching consequence on economic and social development. However, a paucity of research investigates the distributional effect of GTP. Meanwhile, we incorporate agricultural producer service sector into a three-sector general equilibrium model to reflect the modernization of small-scale agriculture. The agricultural producer service sector that acts as an intermediate sector can facilitate the utilization of intermediate inputs indirectly. To desalinate this process, a two-layer vertical production structure is established: parts of manufacturing goods are utilized by the service sector, outputs of which are intermediate inputs that could substitute labor in agriculture. Theoretical analysis shows that GTP increases both wage of skilled labor and unskilled labor. Nevertheless, GTP generates a greater impact on the wage of skilled labor than unskilled labor, leading to widening income disparity. Then, we examine the impact of GTP on wage inequality using a balanced panel data covering 30 provincial units in China during 2000–2019. In line with our theoretical conjecture, we find strong supportive evidences that GTP significantly widens the wage inequality.     

The effects of structural change and economic liberalisation on gender wage differentials in South Korea and Taiwan

This paper investigates the sources of divergent trends in genderwage differentials in two important newly industrialised economies(NIEs), South Korean and Taiwan. As these economies have enteredthe 'post-industrial' phase of development, gender wage differentialsin Taiwan's manufacturing sector have widened, while in Koreathey have narrowed. Decomposition analysis is used to broadlyidentify sources of change in gender wage differentials. Multivariateregression analysis is relied on to differentiate the impacton the gender wage gap of (1) macro-levels policies, (2) institutionalfactors, and (3) shifts in labour demand and supply. In additionto the predictable effects of several standard supply-side variables,in Taiwan physical capital mobility is found to have contributedto a wider gender earnings gap. Women's greater concentrationin industries where capital is mobile may explain this result.The effects of capital mobility in Korea appears to differ,which may be due to the dissimilar characters of outward FDIfrom that country.     

Natural resources,economic growth and geography

Worldwide materials extraction increased by a factor of 8.4 over the course of the 20th century. In the meantime, global GDP and population increased by factors of about 22 and 4, respectively. This reveals that one of the key factors driving the increase in the exploitation of the resources was the growth in world population, although mitigated by the reduction in the intensity in the use of the resources in production. In this paper, we present a model that combines the theory of endogenous growth and the economy of natural resources, but taking into account the geographical distribution of economic activity. Indeed, the New Economic Geography provides insights about two elements that, although speeding up GDP growth, can curb the pressure on natural resources, namely the reduction in transports costs and a boost to pace of innovation.     

Resource scarcity,technological progress,and stochastic growth

Will shortages of natural resources constrain economic growth? The answer seems yes, as the amount of natural resources on earth is finite. There can, however, be two excuses for this. First, the resource-saving technological progress might undo resource scarcity. Second, at the country level, countries can import resources from other countries. This paper revisits these two excuses. For technology, not all technological progress is resource-saving, and its arrival is unpredictable. For the import argument, at the global level, the world cannot make up for a shortage of natural resources by importing. Moreover, the amount of resources is difficult to forecast. To address these, I construct the open, stochastic two-sector endogenous growth model with exhaustible resources. I then analytically show that the answer is sensitive to the interaction between technology and resource shocks. In some cases, I find that higher resource uncertainty accelerates the expected growth and improves the welfare of agents.     

The impact of the informal economy on R&D,wage inequality and economic growth

We extend the existing research and development (R&D) growth literature by focusing on the short–medium–long run effects of the informal sector on R&D intensity, wage inequality and economic growth, and by considering 18 OECD countries between 1990 and 2008. We show that: the steady state is unique and stable; the share of informal economy (IE) in production affects negatively R&D intensity and wage equality; Nordic countries have the lowest share of IE in production, while Mediterranean countries have the highest share of IE, wage inequality and R&D intensity but R&D spillovers are lower.     

Human capital use,innovation, patent protection,and economic growth in multiple regions

We provide the first theoretical analysis of the effects of human capital use, innovative activity, and patent protection, on economic growth in a model with many regions. In each region, consumers have constant relative risk-aversion preferences, there is no human capital growth, and there are three kinds of manufacturing activities involving the production of blueprints for inputs (machines), the inputs themselves, and a single final consumption good. Our analysis generates four results. For any given region, we first describe the balanced growth path (BGP) equilibrium and show that the BGP growth rate depends negatively on the rate at which patents expire. Second, we characterize the transitional dynamics in our model. Third, we determine the value of the patent expiry rate that maximizes the equilibrium growth rate of a region. Finally, we show that a policy of offering perpetual patent protection does not necessarily maximize social welfare in a region.     

Complementarities of human capital and information technology: small businesses,emerging economy context and the strategic role of firm resources

How information technology (IT) may complement other key firm resources such as human capital is a question that has drawn increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. Answers to this question are crucial for small businesses in today’s environment. These businesses face a growing demand for IT usage at the same time that they typically can count only on limited resources. This has become a common situation that is particularly critical for small businesses operating in developing countries with emerging economies. We develop propositions and test them with a dataset of service small businesses in an emerging economy. We find that the use of IT services is positively related to firm productivity and that this relationship is positively moderated by entrepreneurs’ management education. Our findings indicate that firm productivity is associated with a combination of human and technology resources.