Economic complexity, human capital and income inequality: a cross-country analysis

Lee, Kang-Kook; Vu, Trung V.

doi:10.1007/s42973-019-00026-7

Cited by 105 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…This is partially explained by reduced human capital accumulation attributed to a greater disease burden. It is plausible that powerful elites with superior skills and knowledge tend to emerge to manage a cadre of unskilled workers (Lee & Vu, 2020). Meanwhile, the presence of powerful and wealthy elites within an economy may induce higher degrees of corruption because these entrenched groups tend to maintain their privileges by rent-seeking activities (Vu, 2021b).…”

Section: The Economic Argumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate, diseases, and the origins of corruption

2021

Econ of Transit and Inst Chang

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It has been commonly observed that tropical countries typically suffer from intense corruption and underdevelopment. I offer an explanation for this longstanding disparity across the world based on variation in the intensity of ultraviolet radiation (UV-R). The central idea of this paper holds that UV-R is positively associated with the (historical) prevalence of eye diseases, which significantly shortens work-life expectancy as a skilled worker. This arguably shapes the global pattern of corrupt practices. Interestingly, this finding appears to be strong and insensitive to accounting for different theories explaining differences in corruption levels across the globe. Further analyses using individual-level data taken from the World Values Survey and provincial level data for China lend strong credence to the cross-country evidence.

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Section: The Economic Argumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate, diseases, and the origins of corruption

2021

Econ of Transit and Inst Chang

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“…8) Apart from studies cited above concerning the effect of economic complexity on economic growth and development, other studies on the macroeconomic effects of economic complexity have focused of economic complexity on income inequality (e.g., Hartmann et al, 2017;Le Caous and Huarng, 2020;Lee and Vu, 2020), improve human development (e.g., Le Caous and Huarng, 2020), economic growth volatility (e.g., Güneri and Yalta, 2020;Maggioni et al, 2016;Miranda-Pinto, 2021), economic growth cycles (e.g., Canh and Thanh, 2020), labor share (Arif, 2021), and poverty (Gnangnon, 2021a).…”

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confidence: 99%

Effect of Productive Capacities on Economic Complexity: Do Aid for Trade Flows Matter?

Gnangnon

2021

Journal of Economic Integration

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This is the first study to examine the effect of productive capacities on economic complexity and understand whether the Aid for Trade (AfT) flows is important for this effect in recipient countries. The analysis uses a sample of 126 developed and developing countries for 2002-2018 and adopts the two-step system Generalized Method of Moments approach. Results show that strengthening productive capacities enhances economic complexity. Furthermore, productive capacities and total AfT flows are strongly complementary in positively affecting economic complexity, and the degree of complementarity is higher for poor countries than for other AfT-recipient countries. Similarly, productive capacities are strongly complementary with total Non-AfT flows, as well as for total development aid. These findings highlight the need for scaling-up development aid flows, notably AfT flows, in favor of developing countries and poor countries having the lowest levels of productive capacities.

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“…However, this mechanism depends on the level of human capital within the economy. If human capital is low, the labour force is not flexible enough, and the growing demand for highly skilled workers increases unemployment (Lee & Vu, 2020). However, if the requirements for flexibility are met, and growing complexity improves the situation on the labour market, it also translates to better general health outcomes.…”

Section: Economic Complexity and Its Rolementioning

confidence: 99%

The specialisation and sophistication of services exports: The case of the Visegrad countries

Gabrielczak¹,

Kuziemska-Pawlak²

2021

Journal of International Studies

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This article analyses exports of services from Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia between 2010 and 2018, focusing on specialisation and sophistication, also known as complexity. The symmetric revealed comparative advantage index was used to determine fields of specialisation, and PRODY and EXPY indices were used to measure complexity. The results suggest that the Visegrad countries predominantly specialised in the export of relatively unsophisticated services compared to other European Union countries. Still, exports of services from the Visegrad countries were more complex than their real GDP per capita would suggest, and this sophistication is growing. This is due to the convergence of sophistication levels between service categories rather than advances in the structure of services exported by the Visegrad countries. Hence, integration with more developed European Union countries sustained existing fields of specialisation.

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Economic complexity, human capital and income inequality: a cross-country analysis

Cited by 105 publications

References 51 publications

Climate, diseases, and the origins of corruption

Climate, diseases, and the origins of corruption

Effect of Productive Capacities on Economic Complexity: Do Aid for Trade Flows Matter?

The specialisation and sophistication of services exports: The case of the Visegrad countries

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