Trade, growth and technical change

摘要

This book has a strong applied focus on the impacts of technical change on growth and trade patterns. A range of empirical studies is presented in separately authored chapters. Basic statistical and regression techniques are the widely used tools of analysis. Background to each chapter includes both empirical and theoretical research perspectives. Some prior knowledge of the new growth and trade theories is assumed and strong emphasis is placed on Schumpeterian theories of technical innovation and diffusion. Nevertheless, commentary on the underlying economic theories remains intuitive. There are ten chapters in the book. In Chapter 1, editors Archibugi and Michie provide an overview of the key issues linking the chapters. They suggest that mainstream economics overly emphasises the public good properties of some forms of technical knowledge. Some knowledge, while costly to discover, has public good characteristics because it is easy to imitate. By contrast, some knowledge has private good attributes only when it is learned by doing. Archibugi and Michie also note that developments in technical knowledge tend to be highly path-dependent. Initial income gaps between rich and poor may widen over time as returns from investments in technical knowledge tend to increase with the scale of investment. The emphasis in half of the book on examining the sources of and evidence for technical convergence and per capita income convergence is therefore well placed.