The Perils of the Learning Model For Modeling Endogenous Technological Change

William D. Nordhaus ()

No 1685, Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers from Cowles Foundation, Yale University

Abstract: Learning or experience curves are widely used to estimate cost functions in manufacturing modeling. They have recently been introduced in policy models of energy and global warming economics to make the process of technological change endogenous. It is not widely appreciated that this is a dangerous modeling strategy. The present note has three points. First, it shows that there is a fundamental statistical identification problem in trying to separate learning from exogenous technological change and that the estimated learning coefficient will generally be biased upwards. Second, we present two empirical tests that illustrate the potential bias in practice and show that learning parameters are not robust to alternative specifications. Finally, we show that an overestimate of the learning coefficient will provide incorrect estimates of the total marginal cost of output and will therefore bias optimization models to tilt toward technologies that are incorrectly specified as having high learning coefficients.

Keywords: Learning by doing; Experience curves; Energy models; Technological change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 O13 D83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ecm, nep-ene and nep-knm
Date: 2009-01

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Working Paper: The Perils of the Learning Model For Modeling Endogenous Technological Change (2009)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1685

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