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  3. American Economic Review
  4. December 2012
  5. Human Capital Prices, Productivity, and Growth

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

Human Capital Prices, Productivity, and Growth

  • Audra J. Bowlus
  • Chris Robinson
American Economic Review
vol. 102, no. 7, December 2012
(pp. 3483–3515)
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Abstract

Separate identification of the price and quantity of human capital has important implications for understanding key issues in economics. Price and quantity series are derived for four education levels. The price series are highly correlated and they exhibit a strong secular trend. Three resulting implications are explored: the rising college premium is found to be driven more by relative quantity than relative price changes, life-cycle wage profiles are readily interpretable as reflecting optimal human capital investment paths using the estimated price series, and adjusting the labor input for quality increases dramatically reduces the contribution of MFP to growth. (JEL D91, I20, J24, J31, O47)

Citation

Bowlus, Audra J., and Chris Robinson. 2012. "Human Capital Prices, Productivity, and Growth." American Economic Review, 102 (7): 3483–3515. DOI: 10.1257/aer.102.7.3483

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D15 Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
  • I20 Education and Research Institutions: General
  • J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
  • J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
  • O47 Measurement of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence