Was there a Marxian bias in Austrian manufacturing? Evidence on the direction of technical change, 1978-1994

This paper presents a study of the bias of technical change for 20 industries of the Austrian manufacturing sector for the period 1978 to 1994 using empirical methods derived from both classical and neoclassical economics. Overall, the results suggest that the technical bias in Austrian manufacturing did not follow a Marxian pattern. Estimates based on the classical framework suggest that 5 out of the 20 industries show a Marxian bias over the period 1978-1994. Evidence based on a neoclassical CES production function is provided and critically evaluated.