Labor Mobility, Structural Change and Economic Growth

Taste heterogeneity, labor mobility and economic geography∗

This paper investigates the impact of the heterogeneity of the labor force on the spatial distribution of activities. This goal is achieved by applying the tools of discrete choice theory to an economic geography model. We show that taste heterogeneity acts as a strong dispersion force. We also show that the relationship between the spatial distribution of the industry (the wage differential) a...

On Demographic Transition, Structural Change, and Economic Growth and Stagnation

The paper analyzes an economy with an agrarian and an industrial sector. Demand is determined by Engel's Law. Population growth follows a non{linear income dependent path according to the theory of demographic transition. In case of decreasing returns to scale in the agrarian sector the existence of a stable low{income equilibrium with high population growth can be shown. If this equilibrium is...

Structural Change and the Kaldor Facts of Economic Growth

We present a model in which two of the most important features of the long-run growth process are reconciled: the massive changes in the structure of production and employment; and the Kaldor facts of economic growth. We assume that households expand their consumption along a hierarchy of needs and firms introduce continuously new products. In equilibrium industries with an expanding and those ...

Labor Productivity: Structural Change and Cyclical Dynamics

A longstanding puzzle of empirical economics is that average labor productivity declines during recessions and increases during booms. This paper provides a framework to assess the empirical importance of competing hypotheses for explaining the observed procyclicality. For each competing hypothesis we derive the implications for cyclical productivity conditional on expectations of future demand...

Economic Development And Structural Change