The shape of production function and the direction of technical change
By: Charles I. Jones.
Contributors: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series ;; working paper 10457; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) ;; working paper no. 10457.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Subjects: Production functions (Economic theory); Technological innovations -- Econometric models.
Description: "This paper views the standard production function in macroeconomics as a reduced form and derives its properties from microfoundations.  The shape of this production function is governed by the distribution of ideas.  If that distribution is Pareto, then two results obtain: the global production function is Cobb-Douglas, and technical change in the long run is labor-augmenting.  Kortum (1997) showed that Pareto distributions are necessary if search-based idea models are to exhibit steady-state growth.  Here we show that this same assumption delivers the additional results about the shape of the production function and the direction of technical change"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Also available in print.
Includes bibliographical references.
Title from PDF file as viewed on 1/12/2005.
System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.