A cross-country estimation of the elasticity of substitution between labor and capital in manufacturing industries

Sebastián Claro*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents a simple methodology to estimate the elasticity of substitution between labor and capital for firms operating in perfectly competitive factor markets with constant-elasticity-of-substitution technologies. It is applied to a cross-country sample of 28 3-digit ISIC manufacturing industries. The econometric procedure relies on measures of sectorial capital stock, that are estimated for 34 countries in 1990. Unlike previous studies, the estimates are compatible with international technology differences. The results reveal that in most industries she elasticity of substitution is close to one. However, the null hypothesis of Cobb-Douglas production functions is in general rejected.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)239-257
Number of pages19
JournalCuadernos de Economia - Latin American Journal of Economics
Volume40
Issue number120
DOIs
StatePublished - 2003

Keywords

  • Elasticity of Substitution
  • International Technology Differences

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A cross-country estimation of the elasticity of substitution between labor and capital in manufacturing industries'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this