Productivity growth in Latin America during the twentieth century

Analysis of new comparable series on output and employment between 1900 and 2000 for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela indicates that productivity growth was significantly higher and less volatile during the middle decades of the century than in the opening and closing decade...

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Auteurs principaux: Fitzgerald, V, Astorga, P, Bergés, A
Format: Working paper
Publié: University of Oxford 2003
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author Fitzgerald, V
Astorga, P
Bergés, A
author_facet Fitzgerald, V
Astorga, P
Bergés, A
author_sort Fitzgerald, V
collection OXFORD
description Analysis of new comparable series on output and employment between 1900 and 2000 for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela indicates that productivity growth was significantly higher and less volatile during the middle decades of the century than in the opening and closing decades. The first estimate of total factor productivity (TFP) growth for Latin America during the twentieth century as a whole, derived from the residuals of a skill-augmented production function, indicates that unembodied technical progress was low and that the accumulation of fixed and human capital accounted for almost all recorded economic progress. Sectoral disaggregation suggests that this factor accumulation was associated with increased levels of capital per worker during industrialization on the one hand; and with both out-migration from agriculture and the lagged consequences of a demographic transition on the other. The relatively low rates of human and physical capital accumulation in Latin America remain to be explained, although these are more likely to be associated with inadequate public provision of infrastructure and education than with the cycle of protection and liberalization as such.
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spelling oxford-uuid:9c7dcce1-3729-4805-857d-c940bbf4ee102022-03-27T00:36:20ZProductivity growth in Latin America during the twentieth centuryWorking paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:9c7dcce1-3729-4805-857d-c940bbf4ee10Bulk import via SwordSymplectic ElementsUniversity of Oxford2003Fitzgerald, VAstorga, PBergés, AAnalysis of new comparable series on output and employment between 1900 and 2000 for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela indicates that productivity growth was significantly higher and less volatile during the middle decades of the century than in the opening and closing decades. The first estimate of total factor productivity (TFP) growth for Latin America during the twentieth century as a whole, derived from the residuals of a skill-augmented production function, indicates that unembodied technical progress was low and that the accumulation of fixed and human capital accounted for almost all recorded economic progress. Sectoral disaggregation suggests that this factor accumulation was associated with increased levels of capital per worker during industrialization on the one hand; and with both out-migration from agriculture and the lagged consequences of a demographic transition on the other. The relatively low rates of human and physical capital accumulation in Latin America remain to be explained, although these are more likely to be associated with inadequate public provision of infrastructure and education than with the cycle of protection and liberalization as such.
spellingShingle Fitzgerald, V
Astorga, P
Bergés, A
Productivity growth in Latin America during the twentieth century
title Productivity growth in Latin America during the twentieth century
title_full Productivity growth in Latin America during the twentieth century
title_fullStr Productivity growth in Latin America during the twentieth century
title_full_unstemmed Productivity growth in Latin America during the twentieth century
title_short Productivity growth in Latin America during the twentieth century
title_sort productivity growth in latin america during the twentieth century
work_keys_str_mv AT fitzgeraldv productivitygrowthinlatinamericaduringthetwentiethcentury
AT astorgap productivitygrowthinlatinamericaduringthetwentiethcentury
AT bergesa productivitygrowthinlatinamericaduringthetwentiethcentury