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Equipment investment and growth in developing countries

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  • Hendricks, Lutz

Abstract

A large empirical literature investigates the link between "openness" and growth. Cross-country observations suggest that (i) "openness" enhances growth by increasing a country's rate of investment, and (ii) variables related to equipment investment are robustly and strongly correlated with growth rates. This paper proposes a microeconomic mechanism for the link between openness, equipment investment and growth. A dynamic general equilibrium model is developed where countries that face different prices of imported equipment grow at different rates. The proposed theory is based on the notions of technology adoption and learning. Capital productivity depends on the match between the technology embodied in capital and the level of knowledge ("experience") it is combined with in production. Experience is accumulated through "learning-by-using," where using modern capital goods is essential for learning. When making investment decisions, firms choose the type of capital that best matches the level of knowledge available over its lifetime. In developing countries, this implies investment in outdated technologies. Equipment prices affect growth through (i) the rate at which old vintages of equipment are retired (accelerated obsolescence) and (ii) the choice of technologies embodied in new investment. Both in turn change the rate of learning and technology adoption. A calibrated version of the model yields a number of predictions that are testable with microeconomic data.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Development Economics.

Volume (Year): 61 (2000)
Issue (Month): 2 (April)
Pages: 335-364

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Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:61:y:2000:i:2:p:335-364

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References

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  1. De Long, J. Bradford & Summers, Lawrence H., 1993. "How strongly do developing economies benefit from equipment investment?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 395-415, December.
  2. Hulten, Charles R, 1992. "Growth Accounting When Technical Change Is Embodied in Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(4), pages 964-80, September.
  3. Argote, L. & Epple, D., 1990. "Learning Curves In Manufacturing," GSIA Working Papers 89-90-02, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
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  8. Parente Stephen L., 1994. "Technology Adoption, Learning-by-Doing, and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 346-369, August.
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  13. Edwards, Sebastian, 1998. "Openness, Productivity and Growth: What Do We Really Know?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(447), pages 383-98, March.
  14. J. Bradford De Long & Lawrence H. Summers, 1990. "Equipment Investment and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 3515, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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  17. Andres Rodriguez-Clare, 1996. "The role of trade in technology diffusion," Discussion Paper / Institute for Empirical Macroeconomics 114, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
  18. Lee, Jong-Wha, 1995. "Capital goods imports and long-run growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 91-110, October.
  19. Pack, Howard, 1988. "Industrialization and trade," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery† & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 333-380 Elsevier.
  20. Greenwood, J. & Hercowitz, Z. & Krusell, P., 1996. "Long-Run Implications of Investment-Specific Technological Change," RCER Working Papers 420, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER).
  21. Alwyn Young, 1991. "Learning by Doing and the Dynamic Effects of International Trade," NBER Working Papers 3577, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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  24. J. Bradford DeLong & Lawrence H. Summers, 1992. "Equipment Investment and Economic Growth: How Strong Is the Nexus?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 23(2), pages 157-212.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Mateos-Planas, Xavier, 2000. "Schooling and distortions in a vintage capital model," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0030, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
  2. Agenor, Pierre-Richard, 2003. "The mini-integrated macroeconomic model for poverty analysis : a framework for analyzing the unemployment and poverty effects of fiscal and labor market reforms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3067, The World Bank.
  3. Mateos-Planas, Xavier, 2000. "Schooling and distortions in a vintage capital model," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0030, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
  4. M. Herrerias & Vicente Orts, 2012. "Equipment investment, output and productivity in China," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 181-207, February.
  5. repec:pra:mprapa:36991 is not listed on IDEAS
  6. Mateos-Planas, Xavier, 2004. "Technology adoption with finite horizons," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(11), pages 2129-2154, October.
  7. Ricardo Azevedo Araujo & Gilberto Tadeu Lima, 2008. "Investment-Specific Technological Change, Investment Sectoral Allocation and Human Capital Accumulation in a Model of Export-Led Growth," Anais do XXXVI Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 36th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 200807211332520, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pósgraduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
  8. Araujo, Ricardo Azevedo, 2011. "Lyapunov Stability in an Evolutionary Game Theory Model of the Labor Market," MPRA Paper 29957, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  9. Araujo, Ricardo Azevedo & Lima, Gilberto Tadeu, 2011. "Embodied technological change, capital sectoral allocation and export-led growth," MPRA Paper 29810, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  10. Berthold Herrendorf & Arilton Teixeira, 2011. "Barriers To Entry And Development," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 52(2), pages 573-602, 05.
  11. Stephen L. Parente, 2000. "Learning-by-Using and the Switch to Better Machines," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 3(4), pages 675-703, October.
  12. Dulleck, Uwe & Foster, Neil, 2008. "Imported Equipment, Human Capital and Economic Growth in Developing Countries," Economic Analysis and Policy (EAP), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Economics and Finance, vol. 38(2), pages 233-250, September.
  13. repec:pra:mprapa:36931 is not listed on IDEAS
  14. Varouj Aivazian & Dipak Mazumdar & Eric Santor, 2003. "Financial Constraints and Investment: Assessing the Impact of a World Bank Loan Program on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Sri Lanka," Working Papers 03-37, Bank of Canada.

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