WOULD CHEAPER CAPITAL REPLACE LABOUR?
2010; Wiley; Volume: 78; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/j.1813-6982.2010.01240.x
ISSN1813-6982
Autores Tópico(s)Global Financial Crisis and Policies
ResumoSouth African Journal of EconomicsVolume 78, Issue 2 p. 131-151 WOULD CHEAPER CAPITAL REPLACE LABOUR? Alberto Behar, Corresponding Author Alberto Behar St Anne's College and Centre for the Study of African Economies, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, UKSt Anne's College and Centre for the Study of African Economies, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, UK. E-mail address: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author Alberto Behar, Corresponding Author Alberto Behar St Anne's College and Centre for the Study of African Economies, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, UKSt Anne's College and Centre for the Study of African Economies, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, UK. E-mail address: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author First published: 08 June 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1813-6982.2010.01240.xCitations: 7Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Left-leaning members of the ruling alliance should be careful what they wish for. By estimating elasticities of substitution and factor demand between capital and four labour types, we find microeconomic evidence that cheaper capital would reduce demand for labour. While capital and all occupations are substitutes, many but not all occupations are themselves complements. These results allow for endogenous changes in output and apply to the vast majority of firms in our sample. REFERENCES AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS. (2005). Discussion document prepared for National General Council on 29 June-3 July; Tshwane. Google Scholar AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY, CONGRESS OF SOUTH AFRICAN TRADE UNIONS AND SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CIVIC ORGANISATION. (2009). Press release after joint summit held on 13-15 November 2009, Esselen Park, Ekurhuleni. Google Scholar ALLEN, R. (1938). Mathematical Analysis for Economists. London: Macmillian & Co Ltd. Google Scholar ANDERSON, G. and THURSBY, J. (1986). Confidence intervals for elasticity estimators in translog models. Review of Economics and Statistics, 68(4): 647-656. 10.2307/1924524 Web of Science®Google Scholar BEHAR, A. (2008). Are Skilled and Unskilled Labour Complements or Substitutes? Skill Supply, Cheap Capital, and Unskilled Labour Demand. Saarbrucken: VDM Press. Google Scholar BERGSTRÖM, V. and PANAS, E. (1992). How robust is the capital-skill complementarity hypothesis? Review of Economics and Statistics, 74(3): 540-546. 10.2307/2109499 Web of Science®Google Scholar BERNDT, E. (1991). The Practice of Econometrics, Classic and Contemporary. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Google Scholar BERNDT, E. (1973a). The internal structure of functional relationships: Separability, substitution and aggregation. Review of Economic Studies, 40(3): 403-410. 10.2307/2296459 Web of Science®Google Scholar BERNDT, E. (1973b). The translog function and the substitution of equipment, structures and labour in U.S. manufacturing 1929-68. Journal of Econometrics, 1(3): 81-113. 10.1016/0304-4076(73)90007-9 Google Scholar BERNDT, E. and KHALED, M. (1979). Parametric productivity measurement and choice among flexible functional forms. Journal of Political Economy, 87(6): 1220-1245. 10.1086/260833 Web of Science®Google Scholar BHORAT, H. and LUNDALL, P. (2002). Employment, Wages and Skills Development: Firm Specific Effects – Evidence from Two Firm Surveys in South Africa. Development Policy Research Unit Working Paper 68. Google Scholar BINSWANGER, H. (1974a). A cost function approach to the measurement of elasticities of factor demand and elasticities of substitution. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 56(2): 377-386. 10.2307/1238771 Web of Science®Google Scholar BINSWANGER, H. (1974b). The measurement of technological change biases with many factors of production. American Economic Review, 64(6): 964-976. Web of Science®Google Scholar BONGA-BONGA. (2009). The South African aggregate production function: Estimation of the constant elastiticy of substitution function. The South African Journal of Economics, 77(2): 332-349. 10.1111/j.1813-6982.2009.01208.x Web of Science®Google Scholar CHIRINKO, R. (2008). σ: The long and the short of it. The Journal of Macroeconomics, 30(2): 671-686. 10.1016/j.jmacro.2007.10.010 Web of Science®Google Scholar CHRISTENSEN, L, JORGENSON, D and LAU, L. (1973). Transcendental logarithmic production frontiers. Review of Economics and Statistics, 55(1): 28-45. 10.2307/1927992 Web of Science®Google Scholar CHUNG, J (1994). Utility and Production Functions. Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar CONGRESS OF SOUTH AFRICAN TRADE UNIONS. (1998). COSATU's Approach to Budget Hearings on the Role of the South African Reserve Bank and Monetary Policy. Memorandum to Parliamentary Finance Committee. Google Scholar CONGRESS OF SOUTH AFRICAN TRADE UNIONS. (2005). COSATU takes jobs campaign to the streets. COSATU Weekly News, 27 May, Available at: http://amadlandawonye.wikispaces.com/COSATU+Weekly+Mass+Class+Stayaway+General+Strike. Google Scholar DEATON, A. (1997). The Analysis of Household Surveys: A Microeconometric Approach to Development Policy. Baltimore: World Bank/John Hopkins University Press. 10.1596/0-8018-5254-4 Google Scholar DOMS, M., DUNNE, T. and TROSKE, K. (1997); Workers, wages and technology. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(1): 253-290. 10.1162/003355397555181 Web of Science®Google Scholar DUPUY, A. and DE GRIP, A. (2006). Elasticity of substitution and productivity, capital and skill intensity differences across firms. Economics Letters, 340-347. 10.1016/j.econlet.2005.08.025 Web of Science®Google Scholar DU TOIT, C. and KOEKEMOER, R. (2003). A labour model for South Africa. South African Journal of Economics, 71(1): 49-76. 10.1111/j.1813-6982.2003.tb00071.x Web of Science®Google Scholar EDWARDS, L. (2003). A firm level analysis of trade technology and employment in South Africa. Journal of International Development, 16(1): 45-61. 10.1002/jid.1062 Google Scholar ESTRIN, S. and LAIDLER, D. (1995). Introduction to Microeconomics. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf Google Scholar FAJNZYLBER, P. and MALONY, W. (2001). How Comparable are Labor Demand Elasticities Across Countries. Policy Research Working Paper 2658, World Bank Latin America and the Caribbean Region Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Sector Unit Google Scholar FALLON, P. and LUCAS, R. (1998). South Africa: Labor Markets: Adjustment and Inequalities. World Bank Southern Africa Department Discussion Paper 12. Google Scholar FALLON, P. and VERRY, D. (1988). The Economics of Labour Markets. Oxford: Philip Alan Publishers Limited. Google Scholar FEDDERKE, J., SHIN, Y. and VAZE, P. (2003). Trade and Labour Usage: An Examination of the South African Manufacturing Industry. Econometric Research Southern African Working Paper 15 Google Scholar GREENE, W. (2003). Econometric Analysis, 5th edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education International. Google Scholar GRILICHES, Z. (1969). Capital-skill complementarity. Review of Economics and Statistics, 51(4): 465-468. 10.2307/1926439 Web of Science®Google Scholar HAMERMESH, D. (1986). Labor demand. In O. Ashenfelter and R. Layard (eds), Handbook of Labor Economics Volume 1. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 429-471. 10.1016/S1573-4463(86)01011-8 Google Scholar HAMERMESH, D. (1993). Labor Demand. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 10.1515/9780691222998 Google Scholar HAMLYN, M. (2009). COSATU wants 3% interest rate. Business Day, 4 November, Available at: http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5231467&fSectionId=552&fSet. Google Scholar HUMPHREY, D. and WOLKOWITZ, B. (1976). Substituting intermediates for capital and labour with alternate functional forms: an aggregate study. Applied Economics, 8(1): 59-68. 10.1080/00036847600000005 Web of Science®Google Scholar KAPLINSKY, R. (1995). Capital intensity in South African manufacturing and unemployment, 1972-90. World Development, 23(2): 179-192. 10.1016/0305-750X(94)00122-F Web of Science®Google Scholar KLUMP, R. and PAPAGEORGIOU, C. (2008). The CES production function in the theory and empirics of economic growth. Journal of Macroeconomics, 30(2): 599-600. 10.1016/j.jmacro.2007.12.004 Web of Science®Google Scholar LAU, L. (2000). Research on the cost of capital; past, present, and future. In L. Lau (ed.), Econometrics Volume 2: Econometrics and the Cost of Capital: Essays in Honor of Dale W Jorgenson. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1-34. Google Scholar MARSHALL, A. (1920). Principles of Economics, 8th edn. London: Macmillan & Co Ltd. Google Scholar MELLO, M. (2008). Skilled labor, unskilled labor, and economic growth. Economics Letters, 100: 28-31. 10.1016/j.econlet.2008.03.012 Web of Science®Google Scholar MOLL, P. (1996). Compulsory centralisation of collective bargaining in South Africa. American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, 86(2): 326-329. Web of Science®Google Scholar NATTRASS, N. (2000). Inequality, unemployment and wage-setting in South Africa. Studies in Economics and Econometrics, 24(3): 129-142. Google Scholar NEGASH, M. (2002). Corporate tax and capital structure: Some evidence and implications. The Investment Analysts Journal, (56): Pt. 2, 17-27. Google Scholar OI, W. and IDSON, T. (1999). Firm size and wages. In O. Ashenfelter and D. Card (eds), Handbook of Labour Economics Volume 3C. Amsterdam: Elsevier North Holland, 2165-2214. 10.1016/S1573-4463(99)30019-5 Google Scholar PIPER, L. and MATISONN, H. (2009). Democracy by Accident: The Rise of Zuma and the Renaissance of the Tripartite Alliance. Representation, 45(2): 143-157. 10.1080/00344890902945657 Google Scholar POLLIN, R., EPSTEIN, G., HEINTZ, J. and NDIKUMANA, L. (2006). An Employment-Targeted Economics Program for South Africa. United Nations Development Programme, New York. Google Scholar REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. (1995). Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Google Scholar REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. (1998). Budget Review 1998. Google Scholar ROBINSON, J. (1933). The Economics of Imperfect Competition. London: Macmillan & Co Ltd. Google Scholar SELVANATHAN, E. and SELVANATHAN, X. (2003). Consumer demand in South Africa. The South African Journal of Economics, 71(2): 325-344. 10.1111/j.1813-6982.2003.tb01311.x Web of Science®Google Scholar SÖDERBOM, M. and TEAL, F. (2004). Size and efficiency in African manufacturing firms: Evidence from firm-level panel data. Journal of Development Economics, 73(1): 369-394. 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2003.02.005 Web of Science®Google Scholar STATACORP. (2003). Stata: Reference Manual: Release 8. College Station, TX: Stata Press. Google Scholar STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA. (1998). Metadata Report for 1997 October Household Survey. Pretoria, South Africa. Google Scholar STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA. (2009). Quarterly Labour Force Survey. Statistical Release P0211 Quarter 1 2009. Google Scholar TEAL, F. (2000). Real wages and the demand for skilled and unskilled male labour in Ghana's manufacturing sector: 1991-1995. Journal of Development Economics, 61(2): 447-461. 10.1016/S0304-3878(00)00064-X Web of Science®Google Scholar UZAWA, H. (1962). Production functions with constant elasticities of substitution. Review of Economic Studies, 29(4): 291-299. 10.2307/2296305 Web of Science®Google Scholar Citing Literature Volume78, Issue2June 2010Pages 131-151 ReferencesRelatedInformation
Referência(s)