Title: Changes in the technology of harvesting timber in the United States: Some implications for labour
Abstract: Abstract The parameters of the production technology for the United States timber harvesting industry were estimated from models based upon the production function and a flexible dual cost function. The results were remarkably similar, and suggested that the constant elasticity of substitution (CES) production function was consistent with the data for the period 1951–1974. The elasticity of factor substitution was estimated to be less than unity. Technological progress, primarily in the form of labour-saving mechanical harvesting equipment, has been responsible for the decline in labour's relative share of income. In this respect, forestry is structurally similar to agriculture. From the standpoint of public policy, continued technical advancement in the form of mechanical harvesting equipment will displace additional workers and, for developing countries, could have undesirable consequences for trade balances and the functional distribution of income. Recent efforts to increase labour productivity using intermediate technologies could do much to mitigate the displacement of labour that accompanies the adoption of highly capital-intensive technologies.
Publication Year: 1982
Publication Date: 1982-12-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 9
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