Competition and Human Capital Accumulation: A Theory of Interregional Specialization and Trade / Julio J. Rotemberg, Garth Saloner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rotemberg, Julio J.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Saloner, Garth.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w3228.

NBER working paper series no. w3228

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Skilled labor--Supply and demand.

Skilled labor.

Human capital.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Competition and Human Capital Accumulation

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1990.

Cambridge, Massachusetts : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1990.

Summary:

We consider a model with several regions whose technological ability and factor endowments are identical and in which transport costs between regions are non-negligible. Nonetheless, certain goods are sometimes produced by multiple firms all of which are located in the same region. These goods are then exported from the regions in which their production is agglomerated. Regional agglomeration of production and trade stem from two forces. First, competition between firms for the services of trained workers is necessary for the workers to recoup the cost of acquiring industry-specific human capital. Second, the technology of production is more efficient when plants are larger than a minimum efficient scale and local demand is insufficient to support several firms of that scale. We also study the policy implications of our model.

Notes:

Print version record

January 1990.