Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/26279 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 2234
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Research on the elasticity of substitution between capital and labor - ó - has been proceeding for 75 years. While there is clearly a strong case for the importance of ó in the analysis of growth and other economic issues, much less agreement exists on the value of ó. This paper offers some perspectives on prior estimates of ó, emphasizing the fundamental tension between the short-run data that are available and the long-run parameter that is required. Estimates of ó based on various short-run and long-run models are discussed and, while the estimates range widely, the weight of the evidence suggests a value of ó in the range of 0.40 to 0.60. There is little evidence to sustain the assumption of a Cobb-Douglas production function.
Subjects: 
production
function
capital formation
economic growth
estimating long-run relations
JEL: 
E22
C20
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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