Econometrica

Journal Of The Econometric Society

An International Society for the Advancement of Economic
Theory in its Relation to Statistics and Mathematics

Edited by: Guido W. Imbens • Print ISSN: 0012-9682 • Online ISSN: 1468-0262

Econometrica: Mar, 2021, Volume 89, Issue 2

Micro Data and Macro Technology

https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA12807
p. 703-732

Ezra Oberfield, Devesh Raval

We develop a framework to estimate the aggregate capital‐labor elasticity of substitution by aggregating the actions of individual plants. The aggregate elasticity reflects substitution within plants and reallocation across plants; the extent of heterogeneity in capital intensities determines their relative importance. We use micro data on the cross‐section of plants to build up to the aggregate elasticity at a point in time. Interpreting our econometric estimates through the lens of several different models, we find that the aggregate elasticity for the U.S. manufacturing sector is in the range of 0.5–0.7, and has declined slightly since 1970. We use our estimates to measure the bias of technical change and assess the decline in labor's share of income in the U.S. manufacturing sector. Mechanisms that rely on changes in the relative supply of factors, such as an acceleration of capital accumulation, cannot account for the decline.


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Supplemental Material

Supplement to "Micro Data and Macro Technology"

This zip file contains the replication files for the manuscript.  It also contains a copy of Supplemental Appendix (App. H—Q). 

Supplement to "Micro Data and Macro Technology"

This appendix conatins material not found within the manuscript.