Essays on technical change, economic growth and income distribution: a complex adaptive system approach

The thesis is composed by three essays investigating the interplay between technical change, long-run economic growth and functional income distribution. In particular, I analyze some of the possible theoretical explanations accounting for the persistent declining pattern of aggregate wage share observed during the last decades in many advanced economies. From a methodological perspective, I analyze this topic through the Complex Adaptive System approach by implementing an Agent Based-Stock-Flow Consistent (AB-SFC) model under two configurations, that is a closed-economy (Chapter 2) and an open-economy set-up (Chapter 3). In Chapter 4 I propose an analytical two-sector Kaleckian model analyzing the role of sectoral composition of output on the declining pattern of aggregate wage share.