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The Human Side of Structural Transformation

Tommaso Porzio, Federico Rossi (federico.rossi@warwick.ac.uk) and Gabriella V. Santangelo

No 29390, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We document that nearly half of the global decline in agricultural employment during the 20th-century was driven by new cohorts entering the labor market. A newly compiled dataset of policy reforms supports an interpretation of these cohort effects as human capital. Through the lens of a model of frictional labor reallocation, we conclude that human capital growth, both as a mediating factor and as an independent driver, led to a sharp decline in the agricultural labor supply. This decline accounts, at fixed prices, for 40% of the decrease in agricultural employment. This aggregate effect is roughly halved in general equilibrium.

JEL-codes: J24 J43 J62 L16 O11 O14 O18 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-his, nep-lma and nep-tid
Note: DEV ED EFG LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published as Tommaso Porzio & Federico Rossi & Gabriella Santangelo, 2022. "The Human Side of Structural Transformation," American Economic Review, vol 112(8), pages 2774-2814.

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Working Paper: The Human Side of Structural Transformation (2020) Downloads
Working Paper: The Human Side of Structural Transformation (2020) Downloads
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