scholarly journals Optimal taxation with unobservable investment in human capital

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 501-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina Reis

Abstract In a Ramsey model of optimal taxation, if human capital investment can be observed separately from consumption, it is optimal not to distort human or physical capital accumulation in the long run, and only labour income taxes should be used. However, in reality the government can’t always distinguish between investment in human capital and pure consumption, so a tax on labour or consumption will necessarily tax human capital. We find that when investment in human capital is unobservable, the optimal policy is to tax human capital at a positive rate, even in the long run. Whether physical capital should be taxed or not depends on its degree of complementarity with human capital versus labour.

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Bucci ◽  
Xavier Raurich

Abstract Using a growth model with physical capital accumulation, human capital investment and horizontal R&D activity, this paper proposes an alternative channel through which an increase in the population growth rate may yield a non-uniform (i.e., a positive, negative, or neutral) impact on the long-run growth rate of per-capita GDP, as available empirical evidence seems mostly to suggest. The proposed mechanism relies on the nature of the process of economic growth (whether it is fully or semi-endogenous), and the peculiar engine(s) driving economic growth (human capital investment, R&D activity, or both). The model also explains why in the long term the association between population growth and productivity growth may ultimately be negative when R&D is an engine of economic growth.


2015 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Földvári ◽  
Bas van Leeuwen ◽  
Dmitry Didenko

According to the consensus view, it was primarily physical capital accumulation that drove economic growth during the early years of state socialism. Growth models incorporating both human and physical capital accumulation led to the conclusion that a high physical/human capital ratio can cause a lower economic growth in the long run, hence offering an explanation for the failure of socialist economies. In this paper, we show theoretically and empirically that according to the logic of the socialist planner, it was optimal to achieve a higher physical to human capital ratio in socialist countries than in the West. Using a VAR analysis, we find empirical confirmation that within the Material Product System of national accounting, the relative dominance of investment in physical capital accumulation relative to human capital was indeed more efficient than under the system of national accounts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-77
Author(s):  
Hassan O. Ozekhome

Accumulation of human capital is critical to sustained economic growth in the long run, since it facilitates the efficient absorption of new capital developments, improves the speed of adaptation of entrepreneurs and generates innovation necessary for sustained economic growth. It is against this premise this study investigate the human-capital accumulation growth-nexus in Nigeria. Employing a dynamic approach, involving test for unit roots, and cointegration, and finally, the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation techniques on annual time series data, covering the period 1981 to 2016, sourced from the World Bank Development Indicators (WDI) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin, the empirical findings reveal that human and physical capital accumulation significantly induce rapid and sustained economic growth in the long-run. The other variables- infrastructural development (measured by ICT infrastructure) and industrial output (a measure of industrialization) have positive but weak impacts on economic growth, on account of the weak infrastructural development, and low level of industrialization in Nigeria. Inflation rate (a measure of macroeconomic policy environment) on the other hand, is found to have a militating effect on economic growth. We recommend amongst others; sustained investments in human and physical capital accumulation, stable and coherent macroeconomic policies, particularly with respect to taming of domestic inflationary pressures, supportive institutional structures and aggressive industrialization-enhancing policies, in order to enhance sustained economic growth in Nigeria.


Author(s):  
Zhidi Zhang ◽  
Jianqing Ruan

Is there a relationship between the frequency of regional natural disasters and long-term human-capital accumulation? This article investigates the long-run causality between natural calamities and human-capital accumulation with macro and micro data. Empirical cross-county analysis demonstrates that higher frequencies of natural calamities are correlated with higher rates of human-capital accumulation. Specifically, on the basis of empirical data of the fifth census in 2000 and China’s Labor-Force Dynamics Survey in 2012, this paper exploits the two databases to infer that the high disaster frequency in the years of 1500–2000 was likely to increase regional human-capital accumulation on district level. High natural-calamity frequency reduces the expected rate of returning to physical capital, which also serves to increase human-capital. Thus, experiencing with natural disasters would influence human’s preference to human-capital investment instead of physical capital.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-45
Author(s):  
Spyridon Boikos

This paper investigates the possible non-linear effect of corruption on human capital accumulation through two channels. The first channel is through the effect of corruption on the public expenditure on education and the second channel is through the effect of corruption on the physical capital investment. Initially, we construct an endogenous two-sector growth model with human capital accumulation and we try to explore the impact of corruption on the allocation of public expenditure and therefore on the distribution of human capital across sectors. Then by using a semi-parametric method, we confirm the presence of non-linearities between human capital and corruption.


2011 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Leeuwen ◽  
P. Földvári

The objective of this paper is to analyse the role of both human and physical capital in economic growth in Hungary during the 20th century by extending the already available data on physical and human capital. Besides the standard measure for the volume of human capital, we develop a simple method to estimate the value of the human capital stock in Hungary between 1924 and 2006. While the volume index slowly grows over time, the value of human capital shows a decline during the late socialist period. Applying the value of human capital in a growth accounting analysis, we find that the Solow residual has no long-run effect on economic growth anymore.


2009 ◽  
Vol 48 (4II) ◽  
pp. 885-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Afzal ◽  
A. Rauf Butt ◽  
Mr. Hafeez ur Rehman ◽  
Ishrat Begum

This study investigates the econometrically empirical evidence of both the short-run and long-run interrelationships among human development, exports and economic growth in an ARDL framework for Pakistan. This study also examines causal linkages among the said variables by applying the Augmented Granger Causality test of Toda-Yamamoto (1995). By using data on Pakistan’s real GDP, real exports and Human Development Index (HDI) for the period 1970-71 to 2008-09, three models have been estimated. The results show cointegration between economic growth, physical capital, real exports and human development when human development is taken as dependent variables. Furthermore, unidirectional Granger causality running from real GDP to real exports has been found in Bivariate, Trivariate and Tetravariate causality framework. The inclusion of HDI as a measure of human development reduces the physical capital share in real GDP whereas it improves the robustness of the regression model. Real GDP seems to provide resources to improve human development in only the long-run while human capital accumulation does not seem to accelerate real GDP both in the short-run and the long-run. The empirical results of the study do not support ‘export-led growth hypothesis’ and human capital-based endogenous growth theory in case of Pakistan, however, it does support ‘growth-driven exports hypothesis’ in case of Pakistan. JEL classification: O11 Keywords: Human Development, Exports, Economic Growth, ARDL, Causality


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