scholarly journals Labour productivity, wages and the functional distribution of income in Portugal: A sectoral approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Carlos Lopes ◽  
José Carlos Coelho ◽  
Vítor Escária

AbstractThe main purpose of this paper is to study the functional distribution of income in Portugal in the long run, considering the period between 1953 and 2017. The labour share in income or value added depends on two fundamental variables, labour productivity and the average labour compensation. The trends of these variables are quantified for the aggregate economy and for its main productive sectors. An interesting result emerges, namely the different dynamics across sectors, both for the (unadjusted) wage share (considering only the wages of employees) and for the adjusted labour share (considering also as labour compensation one fraction of mixed income). Moreover, a shift-share analysis is used, in order to distinguish the importance of each sector's wage share evolution (“within” effect) and the changes in each sector's weight (structural changes, or “between” effect). Finally, a first attempt to incorporate the effect of wage inequality on the functional distribution of income is made, subtracting the labour compensation of the highest paid workers (top 10%, 5% and 1%) in order to calculate the wage share of the (so-called) "typical" workers.

Author(s):  
Giacomo Gabbuti

Abstract This article develops theoretical and practical motivations for studying the functional distribution of income in the past. Italy is adopted as a case study, because of the availability of long-run estimates on personal inequality and of the long-lasting incidence of self-employment. New labor shares for 1895–1970 show Italian workers accruing a low share of income until 1945; by the end of the 1950s, they rapidly converged to the European average. Italian history shows that functional income distribution deepens our understanding of long- and short-run distributional trends and makes a compelling case for approaching inequality by combining diverse sources and methodologies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-27
Author(s):  
LUIZ CARLOS BRESSER-PEREIRA

ABSTRACT This paper discusses distribution and the historical phases of capitalism. It assumes that technical progress and growth are taking place, and, given that, its question is on the functional distribution of income between labor and capital, having as reference classical theory of distribution and Marx’s falling tendency of the rate of profit. Based on the historical experience, it, first, inverts the model, making the rate of profit as the constant variable in the long run and the wage rate, as the residuum; second, it distinguishes three types of technical progress (capital-saving, neutral and capital-using) and applies it to the history of capitalism, having the UK and France as reference. Given these three types of technical progress, it distinguishes five phases of capitalist growth, where only the second is consistent with Marx prediction. In the final phase, corresponding to financier-rentier capitalism and neoliberalism, the profit rate recovered from the fall of the 1970s, while wages have been growing below the growth of productivity.


1989 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-34
Author(s):  
Devi D Tewari ◽  
V M Rao

Since 1973, prices of energy and energy related inputs have been rising. Rising prices have brought about structural changes not only in agriculture but also in other sectors of the economy. In this article, Tewari and Rao describe the economic and non- economic aspects of rising energy prices in agriculture. Farmers will have to adopt energy saving technologies in the long run to sustain profitability. The magnitude of changes in the agricultural sector brought about by rising prices can be captured through energy modelling. Tewari and Rao outline the salient features of a sectoral model for Indian agriculture which have implications for several policy measures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoli Nattrass ◽  
Jeremy Seekings

Clothing production increasingly occurs in global value chains. Industrial policies typically recommend ‘upgrading’ (increasing labour productivity by becoming more skill- and capital-intensive and producing higher valued products) yet firms can and do move up and down the value chain when profitable opportunities arise. This paper uses United Nations Industrial Development Organisation data on remuneration, output and employment to identify recent national development trajectories for the clothing industry. Upgrading trajectories can be pro-labour (have a rising wage share of value added) or pro-capital (a rising profit share). Pro-labour trajectories can deliver rising average wages and employment (e.g. India and China) or higher average wages for fewer workers (e.g. Sri Lanka). Pro-capital trajectories can also deliver higher average wages and employment growth (e.g. Vietnam) or rising wages for fewer workers (e.g. South Africa). Downgrading trajectories are typically associated with falling average wages but can be associated with rising average wages (as in Turkey). The desirability of a particular development trajectory depends on the economic context, especially labour market conditions. Upgrading trajectories are to be expected when unemployment is low and there is upward pressure on wages. Where unemployment is high, employment objectives are most quickly met through downgrading trajectories in which aggregate labour productivity falls as labour-intensive activities expand.


Equilibrium ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Świerczyńska

Research background: Economic development in sub-Saharan Africa is of paramount importance, yet it escapes most of the attempts to understand it better in the economic dis-course, and it remains a sensitive issue in politics, contradicting stakeholders at national and international levels. The region still lags behind others in terms of technological advancement and economic development. It has grown  significantly in the precedent decade, but the extent of growth has not sufficiently translated to its development. Determining strategies for sub-Saharan Africa is a scientific challenge, which requires more attention. In the globalized, interconnected reality, solving problems of the South is in the best interest of the North. Purpose of the article: The aim of this research is to analyze structural changes as factors of economic development in the best performing sub-Saharan African countries on the grounds of new structural economics in order to provide policy implications.   Methods: Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Gabon were selected as best performing economies in the region. Based on the literature review and the analysis of descriptive statis-tics, profiles of sample countries were set. This in turn allowed to determine the potential explanatory variables for OLS model of economic development. In the model, factors relating to labour productivity, technology and structural change were included. The data was sourced from WDI (World Development Indicators) database, Gretl software was used for computations. Findings & Value added: This paper contributes to the literature by attempting to explain structural changes in the process of economic development in the sub-Saharan region on the sample of best performing states. The paradigm of new structural economics provided theo-retical grounds for empirical analysis. Based on the results, policy implications were proposed with respect to technology promotion, natural resources management, and quality of institutions. The research was limited by data availability and reliability.


2021 ◽  
pp. 102425892199500
Author(s):  
Maria da Paz Campos Lima ◽  
Diogo Martins ◽  
Ana Cristina Costa ◽  
António Velez

Internal devaluation policies imposed in southern European countries since 2010 have weakened labour market institutions and intensified wage inequality and the falling wage share. The debate in the wake of the financial and economic crisis raised concerns about slow wage growth and persistent economic inequality. This article attempts to shed light on this debate, scrutinising the case of Portugal in the period 2010–2017. Mapping the broad developments at the national level, the article examines four sectors, looking in particular at the impact of minimum wages and collective bargaining on wage trends vis-à-vis wage inequality and wage share trajectories. We conclude that both minimum wage increases and the slight recovery of collective bargaining had a positive effect on wage outcomes and were important in reducing wage inequality. The extent of this reduction was limited, however, by uneven sectoral recovery dynamics and the persistent effects of precarious work, combined with critical liberalisation reforms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-37
Author(s):  
Arjun K. ◽  
Sanjay Kumar ◽  
A. Sankaran ◽  
Mousumi Das

The present study investigates the impact of human capital, knowledge capital which is a function of human capital, and real exchange rate scenario in explaining long-run industrial total factor productivity (TFP) from 1980 to 2015 on the theoretical basis of the open endogenous growth model. The variables employed in the contemporary study include manufacturing value added (MNVA) as industrial output measure, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) as a measure of capital and labour input which is measured using employment data. Gross enrolment ratio (GER) is taken as a measure for human capital formation, expenditure on research and development (R&D) as a proxy for knowledge capital, and real exchange rate indicates global economic shocks. The study involves estimating TFP for Industrial Sector during the post-liberalization period by employing Cobb-Douglas production function. The ARDL bounds test technique for cointegration revealed long-run relation among the varying factors studied. The Toda-Yamamoto causality test concluded bi-directional causality running between, R&D expenditure and Industrial TFP which sends a strong signal to the policymakers for a well-framed long-term integrated approach for human & knowledge capital formation which will act as a strong impetus for manufacturing firms to come up in terms of augmenting production and productivity and expanding foreign market horizon. JEL Classification: D24, E2, J24


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