Document Type

Article

Disciplines

5.2 ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

Publication Details

https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/tcdtcduee/tep0723.htm

doi:10.21427/mwc7-mb88

Abstract

We examine the economy-wide degree of substitutability between intangible capital and other factor inputs in production using a large sample of advanced countries. In this context, we turn to studying the implications of intangible and tangible capital growth for labor income share dynamics. Compared to tangible capital, we find that intangible capital more strongly complements skilled labor. The analysis further indicates relative fungibility between tangible capital and a composite of intangible capital and skilled labor, in line with the rising prominence of knowledge-intensive tasks and AI-driven online platforms. The intrinsic nature of intangibles and their asymmetric effects across skilled and unskilled labor productivity based on our substitution elasticities suggest that intangible capital growth increases income inequality more aggressively.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/mwc7-mb88

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.


Share

COinS