@techreport{Markusen2005Learning,
abstract = {Gains from productivity and knowledge transmission arising from the presence of
foreign firms has received a good deal of empirical attention, but micro-foundations for
this mechanism are weak . Here we focus on production by foreign experts who may
train domestic unskilled workers who work with them. Gains from training can in turn
be decomposed into two types: (a) obtaining knowledge and skills at a lower cost than if
they are self-taught at home, (b) producing domestic skilled workers earlier in time than
if they the domestic economy had to rediscover the relevant knowledge through
"reinventing the wheel". We develop a three-period model in which the economy
initially has no skilled workers. Workers can withdraw from the labor force for two
periods of self study and then produce as skilled workers in the third period.
Alternatively, foreign experts can be hired in period 1 and domestic unskilled labor
working with the experts become skilled in the second period. We analyze how
production, training, and welfare depend on two important parameters: the cost of
foreign experts and the learning (or "absorptive") capacity of the domestic economy.},
author = {James R. Markusen and Thomas F. Rutherford},
copyright = {http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen},
keywords = {F13; F23; 330; learning; transmission mechanism; multinationals; imported; Wissenstransfer; Qualifikation; Aussenwirtschaft; Facharbeiter},
language = {eng},
number = {2005,14},
title = {Learning on the quick and cheap: gains from trade through imported expertise},
type = {Discussion paper Series 1 / Volkswirtschaftliches Forschungszentrum der Deutschen Bundesbank},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10419/19522},
year = {2005}
}
