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Technology adoption from hybrid corn to beta blockers

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Author Info
Jonathan Skinner
Douglas Staiger

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Abstract

In his classic 1957 study of hybrid corn, Griliches emphasized the importance of economic incentives and profitability in the adoption of new technology, and this focus has been continued in the economics literature. But there is a distinct literature with roots in sociology emphasizing the structure of organizations, informal networks, and ““change agents.”” We return to a forty-year-old debate between Griliches and the sociologists by considering state-level factors associated with the adoption of a variety of technological innovations: hybrid corn and tractors in the first half of the 20th century, computers in the 1990s, and the treatment of heart attacks during the last decade. First, we find that some states consistently adopted new effective technology, whether hybrid corn, tractors, or effective treatments for heart attacks such as Beta Blockers. Second, the adoption of these new highly effective technologies was closely associated with social capital and state-level 1928 high school graduation rates, but not per capita income, density, or (in the case of Beta Blockers) expenditures on heart attack patients. Economic models are useful in identifying why some regions are more likely to adopt early, but sociological barriers -- perhaps related to a lack of social capital or informational networks -- can potentially explain why other regions lag far behind.

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Article provided by Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in its journal Proceedings.

Volume (Year): (2005)
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedfpr:y:2005:x:30

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. repec:att:wimass:1920412 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Other versions:
  3. Steven Durlauf & Marcel Fafchamps, 2004. "Social Capital," Development and Comp Systems 0409060, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
    • Steven N. Durlauf & Marcel Fafchamps, 2004. "Social Capital," NBER Working Papers 10485, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    • Durlauf, Steven N. & Fafchamps, Marcel, 2005. "Social Capital," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 26, pages 1639-1699 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. John F. Helliwell, 1996. "Economic Growth and Social Capital in Asia," NBER Working Papers 5470, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Antoni Calvó-Armengol & Matthew O. Jackson, 2004. "The Effects of Social Networks on Employment and Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 426-454, June. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Phelps, Charles E., 2000. "Information diffusion and best practice adoption," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 5, pages 223-264 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Cutler, David M. & Huckman, Robert S., 2003. "Technological development and medical productivity: the diffusion of angioplasty in New York state," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 187-217, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Foster, Andrew D & Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1995. "Learning by Doing and Learning from Others: Human Capital and Technical Change in Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(6), pages 1176-1209, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Dixon, Robert J, 1980. "Hybrid Corn Revisited," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(6), pages 1451-61, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Richard G. Frank, 2004. "Behavioral Economics and Health Economics," NBER Working Papers 10881, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Barr, Abigail, 2000. "Social Capital and Technical Information Flows in the Ghanaian Manufacturing Sector," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 539-59, July.
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jens Ludwig & Dave E. Marcotte & Karen Norberg, 2007. "Anti-depressants and Suicide," NBER Working Papers 12906, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Mark Doms, 2005. "The diffusion of personal computers across the United States," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Dec 23. [Downloadable!]
  3. Moscone, Francesco & Tosetti, Elisa & Vittadini, Giorgio, 2009. "Social Interaction in Patients'’Hospital Choice: Evidences from Italy," MPRA Paper 17783, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  4. Morten L. Bech & Bart Hobijn, 2006. "Technology diffusion within central banking: the case of real-time gross settlement," Staff Reports 260, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Mark Doms & Ethan Lewis, 2006. "Labor supply and personal computer adoption," Working Papers 06-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Kohei Enami & John Mullahy, 2008. "Tobit at Fifty: A Brief History of Tobin's Remarkable Estimator, of Related Empirical Methods, and of Limited Dependent Variable Econometrics in Health Economics," NBER Working Papers 14512, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Diego Comin & Bart Hobijn & Emilie Rovito, 2008. "Technology usage lags," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 237-256, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Diego Comin & Bart Hobiijn, 2006. "An Exploration of Technology Diffusion," NBER Working Papers 12314, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Diego A. Comin & Bart Hobijn & Emilie Rovito, 2006. "World Technology Usage Lags," NBER Working Papers 12677, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Jonathan C. Javitt & James B. Rebitzer & Lonny Reisman, 2007. "Information Technology and Medical Missteps: Evidence from a Randomized Trial," NBER Working Papers 13493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Amy Finkelstein, 2005. "The Aggregate Effects of Health Insurance: Evidence from the Introduction of Medicare," NBER Working Papers 11619, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Diego Comin & Bart Hobijn & Emilie Rovito, 2008. "A new approach to measuring technology with an application to the shape of the diffusion curves," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 187-207, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. William A. Brock & Steven N. Durlauf, 2009. "Adoption Curves and Social Interactions," NBER Working Papers 15065, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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