TY  - JOUR
AU  - Boskin,Michael J.
AU  - Lau,Lawrence J.
TI  - Generalized Solow-Neutral Technical Progress and Postwar Economic Growth
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8023
PY  - 2000
Y2  - December 2000
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8023
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8023.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Michael J. Boskin
Hoover Institution
Stanford University
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6010
Tel: 650/723-6482
Fax: 650/723-6494
E-Mail: boskin@stanford.edu

Lawrence Lau
CIC International (Hong Kong) Co., Limited
CITIC Tower
1 Tim Mei  Avenue, Central
Hong Kong
Fax: 852-3710-6968
E-Mail: Lawrence@lawrencejlau.hk
AB  - Using revised, updated, and consistent annual post-World War II data from the G-7 countries developed by us, we econometrically estimate and test alternative explanations of the structure of economic growth in a model with three inputs   tangible capital, labor, and human capital   which permits the identification of the magnitudes of and biases in both returns to scale and technical progress.     We find: 1.   Technical progress is simultaneously purely tangible capital and human capital augmenting, that is,  generalized Solow-neutral.' This finding provides an alternative explanation of the slow pace of convergence in real GDP per capita: the benefits from technical progress depend directly on the levels of tangible and human capital; countries with higher levels of capital realize higher rates of technical progress.2.    Technical progress has been capital, not labor, saving and thus is not a cause of systemic structural unemployment. 3.   Technical progress accounts for more than 50 percent of the economic growth of the G-7 countries except Canada.  Tangible capital input is next most important; together with technical progress, they account for three quarters or more of the growth of real output in the G-7 countries, except Canada. 4.   The most important source of the growth slowdown since the mid-1970's decline in the rate of capital (both tangible and human)-augmenting technical progress.
ER  -