Andrei Markevich (University of Helsinki) - Soviet Industrialization and American Skilled Labor: Technology Transfer and Productivity

BOFIT-seminaarit

BOFIT Seminar - Andrei Markevich (University of Helsinki) - Soviet Industrialization and American Skilled Labor: Technology Transfer and Productivity

Co-author: Torsten Santavirta (University of Helsinki)

Abstract
We analyze the Soviet Industrialization of the 1930s to study state-led industrial policy based on massive import of technologies. Combining novel individual-level data on the migration of seven thousand North Americans of ethnic Finnish origin to Soviet Karelia in 1931-3 with a panel of firm-level accounting data covering the universe of plants in Soviet Karelia and neighboring North region in 1926-1938, we show that the arrival of American Finns – skilled workers with knowledge of frontier wood-processing technologies – boosted labor productivity in Soviet wood and pulp industry. Our findings suggest that skilled migrants could secure the transfer technologies even between radically different economic systems. To unpack the exact mechanisms of technology transfer, we explore heterogeneity in post-transfer labor productivity conditional on the initial capabilities of technology recipients. We show that the human capital, specifically the recipients' communication and managerial skills, shaped the successful transfer of technologies.

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