Complementarity between heterogeneous human capital and R&D: can job-training avoid low development traps?

This paper uses a non-overlapping generations model of endogenous growth to emphasize the effect of human capital’s heterogeneity on economic growth. In addition to education, we present two different typologies of training. The first, technology-general, is independent of R&D; the second, technology-specific, is connected to the success of innovative activities and it is only provided to workers engaged in research. By extending Redding (Econ J 106:452–470, 1996), we demonstrate that human capital composition is important in determining the probability of innovation and the economy’s growth rate. Moreover, the paper shows that technology-general training avoids low development traps when R&D is absent.

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