The contribution of Canadian education to industrial production: An exploration in human capital theory.
Date
1997
Authors
Mak, Kitty Cheng-Hwey.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Dalhousie University
Abstract
Description
The objective of this study was to provide a quantitative assessment of the role of education in Canadian industrial production. For this purpose, some quantitative estimates of the magnitudes of the impact of industrial workers possessing higher educational levels on the employment and productivity of those who possess lower educational levels, and on the use and price of physical capital in Canadian industries, were obtained. Output contributions of these workers were also analyzed. These quantitative assessments were conducted within the framework of human capital theory, according to which education affects productivity, and also industrial output and economic growth. A translog production function was estimated using cross-sectional industrial data grouped by provinces for the years 1980 and 1990. The revelant inputs were capital and labour, the latter being disaggregated by four levels of education. Three sets of estimates were obtained separately for the years 1980 and 1990; one for the entire Canadian economy, one for the service sector, and one for the goods sector. Data from Statistics Canada were used.
Five major findings were obtained: (1) workers disaggregated by levels of educational attainment were substitutes for one another, in general; (2) capital and all labour groups disaggregated by education were complements; (3) workers with university education were the most complementary with capital; (4) as educational attainments increased, wages became less sensitive to changes in the quantity of workers in the same labour group; in general, and (5) if wages reflected marginal productivity, then workers with higher levels of education were found to contribute more to industrial output than their counterparts with lower levels of education.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 1997.
Five major findings were obtained: (1) workers disaggregated by levels of educational attainment were substitutes for one another, in general; (2) capital and all labour groups disaggregated by education were complements; (3) workers with university education were the most complementary with capital; (4) as educational attainments increased, wages became less sensitive to changes in the quantity of workers in the same labour group; in general, and (5) if wages reflected marginal productivity, then workers with higher levels of education were found to contribute more to industrial output than their counterparts with lower levels of education.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 1997.
Keywords
Canadian Studies., Economics, Labor., Education, Philosophy of.