Diagnosing the Productivity Effect of Public Capital in the Private Sector

Does public capital contribute to the productivity in the private sector? If so, which part of the private sector benefits most? Is public capital a substitute for or a complement of labor and private capital? This paper addresses these questions with both cost and profit function models estimated on U.S. time series data of the private sector and two of its subsectors. It pays special attention to nonstationarity in the data, to endogeneity in the price variables, and to the statistical and economic significance of the public capital effect.

On the distribution of job characteristics: an analysis of the DOT data

We analyze the information in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles to characterize the structure of labor demand. Two dimensions, an intellectual factor and a dexterity factor, capture two-thirds of the variance in job requirements; the remaining (co-)variance cannot be easily structured. Simple linear relationships go a long way in describing the matching between job activities and required worker qualities (Intellect for complex relations to Data and to People, Dexterity for complex relations to Things). There is no dichotomy between mathematical and verbal required skills. Poor working conditions are not restricted to workers in low level jobs; we find strong support for compensating wage differentials. At more intellectual jobs, men receive less wage compensation for working conditions, while in jobs requiring greater dexterity they receive more. Such a relationship is absent for women

A Service of zbw Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre for Economics Public Infrastructure as a Determinant of Intertemporal and Interregional Productive Performance in China Public Infrastructure as a Determinant of Intertempo

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in Public Infrastructure as a Determinant of Intertemporal and Interregional Productive Performance in China Feng-Cheng Fu Chu-Ping C. Vijverberg Wim P. M. Vijverberg D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E S ABSTRACT Public Infrastructure as a Determinant of Intertemporal and Interregional Productive Performance in China This paper focuses on the question whether public infrastructure capital matters for labor productivity in China, both over time and across regions. It finds that public infrastructure is a significant determinant of variations in labor productivity across provinces, but the contribution of public capital to labor productivity growth over time is likely non-existing or even negative. These seemingly contradictory results are reconciled once we view the measured intertemporal effect as a short-run impact and the interregional effect as a longterm consequence of public infrastructure investment. JEL Classification: H54, O47, R1