題組內容
4. Consider a closed economy with two sectors, a goods sector and a long-term care (LTC) sector. Let $L$ denote the total labor supply in this economy. The production function for the goods sector is:
$Y = A K^\alpha L_Y^{1-\alpha},$
where Y is total goods being produced, K is physical capital employed in the goods sector, $L_Y$ is labor allocated for goods production, A is the technology scaling factor in the goods sector, and $\alpha$ is the capital income share in the goods sector. The production function of the LTC sector is:
$X = B L_{LTC},$
where X is total LTC service provided, $L_{LTC}$ is labor inputs in the LTC sector, and B is the technology
scaling factor in the LTC sector. Labor is inelastically supplied, so $L \equiv L_Y + L_{LTC}$. Let goods be the price numeraire, $p$ the price of LTC service, and $w_Y$ and $w_{LTC}$ the wage rates in the goods sector and the LTC sector, respectively. There is no population growth. Workers are homogeneous, and all markets are competitive. Answer the following questions.
(c) In reality, wage disparities across sectors are common. In aging economies like Taiwan, the LTC sector faces a persistent labor shortage, creating significant challenges in meeting the growing demand for care services. Explain what could be the possible reasons to the shortage, and propose policies to address the shortage. (10%)