Adjusting to a New Technology: Experience and Training / Elhanan Helpman, Antonio Rangel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Helpman, Elhanan.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Rangel, Antonio.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w6551.

NBER working paper series no. w6551

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Adjusting to a New Technology

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1998.

Summary:

In this paper we study how aggregate output responds to the arrival of a new General Purpose Technology (GPT) by looking at adjustment mechanisms that operate through labor markets. We show that under a wide set of circumstances the arrival of a new GPT that raises long-run output can trigger a recession in the short-run. Furthermore, we characterize features of the GPT that produce a cyclical adjustment path. An initial recession occurs whenever a higher education level is required to operate the new GPT. But a recession can also occur when the new GPT has lower educational requirements. A cyclical adjustment path is more likely when inexperienced workers are less productive with the new technology and the faster productivity rises with experience in the new sector.

Notes:

Print version record

May 1998.