This paper revisits the finding of Caselli and Coleman (Amer Econ Rev 96:499–522, 2006) that poor countries are relatively more efficient in using unskilled labor whereas rich countries are more efficient in using skilled labor. The analysis is based on an approach using directional distance functions from nonparametric efficiency analysis which relies on very mild assumptions. We find that the central result of Caselli and Coleman is robust to using the nonparametric approach. The result is, however, sensitive to alternative definitions of skilled and unskilled labor, data sources and variations of the measurement approach.

中文翻译：

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回顾世界技术前沿：定向距离函数方法

本文回顾了卡塞利（Caselli）和科尔曼（Coleman）的发现（Amer Econ Rev 96：499–522，2006年），即贫穷国家使用非熟练劳动力的效率相对较高，而富裕国家使用熟练劳动力的效率较高。该分析基于使用非参数效率分析中的定向距离函数的方法，该方法依赖于非常温和的假设。我们发现，Caselli和Coleman的主要结果对于使用非参数方法是可靠的。但是，结果对熟练和不熟练劳动力的替代定义，数据源以及测量方法的变化敏感。