John Hicks and Progress

John Hicks, a British economist, received the 1972 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the theory of progress. He formulated a theory that defined the types of technological advancement and their implications for capital and labour intensity. Scientist identified three types of technological progress – capital-saving, labour-saving and neutral.

Ex. 1‑26 John Hicks “impact of progress” in the context of other significant events

Keywords: progress, labour factor, capital

Ex. 1‑27 Different types of progress and their impact on the capital-labour intensity ratio

Keywords: capital saving, labour saving

Empirical research by Hicks has shown that most of the increase in real per capita income in industrialised countries is due to technical progress and much less to capital accumulation. However, the analysis of technical progress is much more complex than the analysis of resource growth, as there are several definitions and types of technical progress, and they can occur at different rates in the production of one or both goods.

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