Luddites and the Demographic Transition

Kevin H. O'Rourke, Ahmed S. Rahman and Alan M. Taylor
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Ahmed S. Rahman, Alan M. Taylor and Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke

The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series from IIIS

Abstract: Technological change was unskilled-labor-biased during the early Industrial Revolution, but is skill-biased today. This is not embedded in extant unified growth models. We develop a model which can endogenously account for these facts, where factor bias reflects profit-maximizing decisions by innovators. Endowments dictate that the early Industrial Revolution be unskilled-labor-biased. Increasing basic knowledge causes a growth takeoff, an income-led demand for fewer educated children, and the transition to skill-biased technological change. The simulated model tracks British industrialization in the 18th and 19th centuries and generates a demographic transition without relying on either rising skill premia or exogenous educational supply shocks.

Date: 2008-11-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dge and nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Luddites and the Demographic Transition (2008)
Working Paper: Luddites and the Demographic Transition (2008)
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