Sectoral technology and structural transformation?

Herrendorf, Berthold, Herrington, Christopher and Valentinyi, Akos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9166-7489 2015. Sectoral technology and structural transformation? American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 7 (4) , pp. 104-133. 10.1257/mac.20130041

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Abstract

We assess how the properties of technology affect structural transformation, i.e., the reallocation of production factors across the broad sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, and services. To this end, we estimate sectoral constant elasticity of substitution (CES) and Cobb-Douglas production functions on postwar US data. We find that differences in technical progress across the three sectors are the dominant force behind structural transformation whereas other differences across sectoral technology are of second order importance. Our findings imply that Cobb-Douglas sectoral production functions that differ only in technical progress capture the main technological forces behind the postwar US structural transformation.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Publisher:	American Economic Association
ISSN:	1945-7707
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance:	28 April 2015
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2023 22:37
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/79896

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