Regional variability in the impact of human capital on regional growth

The first objective of this study is to furnish new evidence concerning the aggregate profitability of the accumulation of human capital. In addition to the traditional measure of the return to human capital, combining the information on its shadow price with the social cost of providing education allows us to confirm the profitability of human capital investments as a tool for promoting economic growth. The possibility of obtaining estimations of these effects for each Spanish region enables us to empirically evaluate the amount of heterogeneity across economies in the effects of human capital. As a second objective, we provide evidence on the indirect effect of human capital in making private capital investment more attractive. Among the main explanations for this process, we observe that higher worker skill levels enable higher returns to be extracted from investment in physical capital.

Decomposing differences in total factor productivity across firm size

This paper investigates the extent to which the gap in total factor productivity between small and large firms is due to differences in the endowment of factors determining productivity and to the returns associated with these factors. We place particular emphasis on the contribution of differences in the propensity to innovate and in the use of skilled labor across firms of different size. Empirical evidence from a representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms corroborates that both differences in endowments and returns to innovation and skilled labor significantly contribute to the productivity gap between small and large firms. In addition, it is observed that the contribution of innovation to this gap is caused only by differences in quantity, while differences in returns have no effect; in the case of human capital, however, most of the effect can be attributed to increasing differences in returns between small and large firms.

Do innovation and human capital explain the productivity gap between small and large firms?

Empirical evidence is compelling that large firms are more productive than small firms. The hypothesis in this paper is that the productivity differences between small and large firms are associated with two of the main determinants of a firm’s performance: the human and technological capital that firms incorporate. We suggest that the contribution of these factors in explaining the productivity-size gap might not only be due to the fact that large firms make a more extensive use of them, but also because large firms obtain higher returns from their investment in human and technological capital. The evidence we obtain for a comprehensive sample of Spanish manufacturing firms (1990-2002) supports this hypothesis, which has important implications for the effectiveness of policies designed to improve productivity in SMEs by stimulating innovation and the use of more skilled workers.

Does human capital stimulate investment in physical capital? Evidence from a cost system framework

The direct effect of human capital on economic growth has been widely analysed in the economic literature. This paper, however, focuses on its indirect effect as a stimulus for private investment in physical capital. The methodological framework used is the duality theory, estimating a cost system aggregated with human capital. Empirical evidence is given for Spain for the period 1980-2000. We provide evidence on the indirect effect of human capital in making private capital investment more attractive. Among the main explanations for this process, we observe that higher worker skill levels enable higher returns to be extracted from investment in physical capital.

Knowledge misallocation and growth

We develop a growth model where knowledge is embodied in individuals and diffused across sectors through labor mobility. The existence of labor mobility costs constrains mobility and, thus, generates labor misallocation. Different levels of labor misallocation imply different levels of exploitation of available knowledge and, therefore, different total factor productivity across countries. We derive a positive relationship between growth and labor mobility, which is consistent with the empirical evidence, by assuming aggregate constant returns to capital. We also analyze the short and long run effects of labor mobility costs in the case of decreasing returns to capital. It turns out that changes in mobility costs have larger economic effects when different types of worker have small rather than large complementarities. Finally, we show that different labor income taxes or labor market tightness imply different rates of labor mobility and, therefore, can explain differences in Gross Domestic Product across countries.

Processat de vídeo aplicat a la robòtica

Aquest projecte consisteix en acoblar una càmera web uEye en una de les extremitats d'un robot industrial (ABB Irc5). Aquest robot, es mourà en cas què es detecti una cara a través de la webcam. L'objectiu és intentar que la cara es situï sempre al mig de la imatge captada per la càmera. Podem dividir les tasques d'aquest projecte amb 4 fases diferents. A continuació expliquem les diferents etapes. La Càmera uEye s'encarrega de capturar imatges i passar-les a un PC utilitzant Python. La funció de Detecció de Cares ens indica la posició i dimensions de la cara. Tot seguit, la funció LabJack s'encarrega de canviar els valors digitals de les 5 senyals mitjançant programació amb Python. Per últim el Robot ABB interpreta el valor d'aquestes 5 senyals i es desplaça mitjançant petits increments amb l'objectiu de situar la cara al mig de la imatge capturada.