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Skill-biased change in entrepreneurial technology

Author

Listed:
  • Markus Poschke

    (McGill University)

Abstract
In contrast to the very large literature on skill-biased technical change among workers, there is hardly any work on the importance of skills for the entrepreneurs who employ those workers, and in particular on their evolution over time. This paper proposes a simple theory of skill-biased change in entrepreneurial technology that fits with cross-country, historical and micro evidence. For this, it introduces two additional features into an otherwise standard occupational choice, heterogeneous firm model a la Lucas (1978): technological change does not benefit all potential entrepreneurs equally, and there is a positive relationship between an individual's potential payoffs in working and in entrepreneurship. If some firms consistently benefit more from technological progress than others, they stay closer to the frontier, and the others fall behind. Because wages rise for all workers, low-productivity entrepreneurs will then at some point exit and become workers. As a consequence, the entrepreneurship rate falls with income per capita, average firm size and firm size dispersion increase with income per capita, and ``entrepreneurship out of necessity'' falls with income per capita. The paper also documents, for two of the facts for the first time, that these are exactly the relationships prevailing in cross-country data. Quantitatively, the model fits the U.S. experience well. Using the parameters from a calibration to the U.S., the model also explains cross-country patterns reasonably well.

Suggested Citation

  • Markus Poschke, 2010. "Skill-biased change in entrepreneurial technology," 2010 Meeting Papers 520, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed010:520
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Jung, Benjamin, 2012. "The home market effect, regional inequality, and intra-industry reallocations," University of Tübingen Working Papers in Business and Economics 33, University of Tuebingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, School of Business and Economics.
    2. Manuel Garcia-Santana & Roberto Ramos, 2012. "Dissecting the Size Distribution of Establishments Across Countries," Working Papers wp2012_1204, CEMFI.
    3. Sang Yoon (Tim) Lee, 2019. "Entrepreneurs, managers and inequality," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 32, pages 42-67, April.
    4. Ronald R. Kumar & Peter J. Stauvermann, 2022. "Imperfect Competition, Real Estate Prices and New Stylized Facts," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, February.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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