Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bfi/wpaper/2020-137.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tapping into Talent: Coupling Education and Innovation Policies for Economic Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Ufuk Akcigit

    (University of Chicago - Department of Economics; NBER; CEPR)

  • Jeremy Pearce

    (University of Chicago - Department of Economics)

  • Marta Prato

    (University of Chicago - Department of Economics)

Abstract
How do innovation and education policy affect individual career choice and aggregate productivity? This paper analyzes the various layers that connect R&D subsidies and higher education policy to productivity growth. We put the development of scarce talent and career choice at the center of a new endogenous growth framework with individual-level heterogeneity in talent, frictions, and preferences. We link the model to micro-level data from Denmark and uncover a host of facts about the links between talent, higher education, and innovation. We use these facts to calibrate the model and study counter-factual policy exercises. We find that R&D subsidies, while less effective than standard models, can be strengthened when combined with higher education policy that alleviates financial frictions for talented youth. Education and innovation policies not only alleviate different frictions, but also impact innovation at different time horizons. Education policy is also more effective in societies with high income inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Ufuk Akcigit & Jeremy Pearce & Marta Prato, 2020. "Tapping into Talent: Coupling Education and Innovation Policies for Economic Growth," Working Papers 2020-137, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2020-137
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repec.bfi.uchicago.edu/RePEc/pdfs/BFI_WP_2020137.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jesse Perla & Christopher Tonetti & Michael E. Waugh, 2021. "Equilibrium Technology Diffusion, Trade, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(1), pages 73-128, January.
    2. Benjamin F. Jones, 2009. "The Burden of Knowledge and the "Death of the Renaissance Man": Is Innovation Getting Harder?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(1), pages 283-317.
    3. Nicholas Bloom & Charles I. Jones & John Van Reenen & Michael Webb, 2020. "Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(4), pages 1104-1144, April.
    4. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen & Heidi Williams, 2019. "A toolkit of policies to promote innovation," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 10.
    5. Bloom, Nick & Griffith, Rachel & Van Reenen, John, 2002. "Do R&D tax credits work? Evidence from a panel of countries 1979-1997," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 1-31, July.
    6. Fabian Waldinger, 2016. "Bombs, Brains, and Science: The Role of Human and Physical Capital for the Creation of Scientific Knowledge," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(5), pages 811-831, December.
    7. Moretti, Enrico & Wilson, Daniel J., 2014. "State incentives for innovation, star scientists and jobs: Evidence from biotech," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 20-38.
    8. Daniel J. Wilson, 2009. "Beggar Thy Neighbor? The In-State, Out-of-State, and Aggregate Effects of R&D Tax Credits," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(2), pages 431-436, May.
    9. Goolsbee, Austan, 1998. "Does Government R&D Policy Mainly Benefit Scientists and Engineers?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 298-302, May.
    10. Tor Jakob Klette & Samuel Kortum, 2004. "Innovating Firms and Aggregate Innovation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(5), pages 986-1018, October.
    11. Paul M. Romer, 2001. "Should the Government Subsidize Supply or Demand in the Market for Scientists and Engineers?," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 1, pages 221-252, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Jesse Perla & Christopher Tonetti, 2014. "Equilibrium Imitation and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(1), pages 52-76.
    13. Ufuk Akcigit & John Grigsby & Tom Nicholas, 2017. "The Rise of American Ingenuity: Innovation and Inventors of the Golden Age," Working Papers 2017-6, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    14. Dimos, Christos & Pugh, Geoff, 2016. "The effectiveness of R&D subsidies: A meta-regression analysis of the evaluation literature," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 797-815.
    15. Benjamin F. Jones, 2010. "Age and Great Invention," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 1-14, February.
    16. Jess Benhabib & Jesse Perla & Christopher Tonetti, 2014. "Catch-up and fall-back through innovation and imitation," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 1-35, March.
    17. Stantcheva, Stefanie & Akcigit, Ufuk & Caicedo Soler, Santiago & Miguelez, Ernest & Sterzi, Valerio, 2018. "Dancing with the Stars: Innovation through Interactions," CEPR Discussion Papers 12819, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Philippe Aghion, 2009. "Growth and Education," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 27936.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ufuk Akcigit & Nathan Goldschlag, 2022. "Measuring the Characteristics and Employment Dynamics of U.S. Inventors," Working Papers 22-43, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Barbara Biasi & Song Ma, 2022. "The Education-Innovation Gap," CESifo Working Paper Series 9653, CESifo.
    3. Kang, Yankun & Leng, Xuan & Liao, Yunxiang & Zheng, Shilin, 2024. "Information disclosure, spillovers, and knowledge accumulation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Santiago Caicedo & Jeremy Pearce, 2024. "Need for Speed: Quality of Innovations and the Allocation of Inventors," Staff Reports 1127, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    5. Sarah McNamara & Guido Neidhoefer & Patrick Lehnert, 2024. "Intergenerational Mobility of Education in Europe: Geographical Patterns, Cohort-Linked Measures, and the Innovation Nexus," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0211, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    6. Marchiori, Carmen & Minelli, Enrico, 2023. "Talent, basic research and growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    7. Cao, Linyi & Jiang, Helu & Li, Guangwei & Zhu, Lijun, 2024. "Haste makes waste? Quantity-based subsidies under heterogeneous innovations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    8. Xiao Ma, 2024. "College Expansion, Trade, And Innovation: Evidence From China," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(1), pages 315-351, February.
    9. Ufuk Akcigit & Nathan Goldschlag, 2023. "Where Have All the "Creative Talents" Gone? Employment Dynamics of US Inventors," Working Papers 23-17, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    10. Burchardi, Konrad & Terry, Stephen & Chaney, Thomas & Tarquinio, Lisa & Hassan, Tarek, 2020. "Immigration, Innovation, and Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 14719, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Carlos Esteban Posada, 2020. "Cambio técnico y política económica: la teoría y el caso colombiano (1950-2019)," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 18506, Universidad EAFIT.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ufuk Akcigit & John Grigsby & Tom Nicholas & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2018. "Taxation and Innovation in the 20th Century," NBER Working Papers 24982, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Douglas Hanley & Ufuk Akcigit & Nicolas Serrano-Velarde, 2014. "Back to Basics: Basic Research Spillovers, Innovation Policy and Growth," Working Paper 535, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, revised Jan 2014.
    3. Howell, Sabrina T. & Rathje, Jason & Van Reenen, John & Wong, Jun, 2021. "Opening up Military Innovation: Causal Effects of 'Bottom-up' Reforms to U.S. Defense Research," IZA Discussion Papers 14297, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Howell, Sabrina T. & Rathje, Jason & Van Reenen, John & Wong, Jun, 2021. "Opening up military innovation: causal effects of reforms to US defense research," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114430, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Kjetil Storesletten & Bo Zhao & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2019. "Business Cycle during Structural Change: Arthur Lewis' Theory from a Neoclassical Perspective," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 2191, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    6. Daron Acemoglu & Ufuk Akcigit & Harun Alp & Nicholas Bloom & William Kerr, 2018. "Innovation, Reallocation, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(11), pages 3450-3491, November.
    7. Rong, Zhao & Wu, Binzhen, 2020. "Scientific personnel reallocation and firm innovation: Evidence from China’s college expansion," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 709-728.
    8. Michael König & Kjetil Storesletten & Zheng Song & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2022. "From Imitation to Innovation: Where Is All That Chinese R&D Going?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(4), pages 1615-1654, July.
    9. Naudé, Wim & Nagler, Paula, 2022. "The Ossified Economy: The Case of Germany, 1870-2020," IZA Discussion Papers 15607, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Alex Bell & Raj Chetty & Xavier Jaravel & Neviana Petkova & John Van Reenen, 2019. "Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 647-713.
    11. Jess Benhabib & Jesse Perla & Christopher Tonetti, 2021. "Reconciling Models of Diffusion and Innovation: A Theory of the Productivity Distribution and Technology Frontier," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(5), pages 2261-2301, September.
    12. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen & Heidi Williams, 2019. "A toolkit of policies to promote innovation," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 10.
    13. Richard M. H. Suen, 2013. "Research Policy and U.S. Economic Growth," Working papers 2013-18, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    14. Simon Wiederhold, 2012. "The Role of Public Procurement in Innovation: Theory and Empirical Evidence," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 43.
    15. Chetty, Raj & Bell, Alex & Jaravel, Xavier & Petkova, Neviana & Van Reenen, John, 2019. "Do tax cuts produce more Einsteins? The impact of financial incentives vs. exposure to innovation on the supply of inventors," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102606, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Naudé, Wim & Nagler, Paula, 2021. "The Rise and Fall of German Innovation," IZA Discussion Papers 14154, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Ufuk Akcigit & Douglas Hanley & Nicolas Serrano-Velarde, 2021. "Back to Basics: Basic Research Spillovers, Innovation Policy, and Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(1), pages 1-43.
    18. Tomoya Mori & Shosei Sakaguchi, 2019. "Creation of knowledge through exchanges of knowledge: Evidence from Japanese patent data," Papers 1908.01256, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2020.
    19. Dumont, Michel, 2022. "Public support to business research and development in Belgium: fourth evaluation," MPRA Paper 115418, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Santiago Caicedo & Jeremy Pearce, 2024. "Need for Speed: Quality of Innovations and the Allocation of Inventors," Staff Reports 1127, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    R&D policy; education policy; inequality; innovation; iq; endogenous growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2020-137. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Toni Shears (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mfichus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.