Old And New Theories Of Economic Growth (I Part)

In this article an attempt has been made to give comparative analysis of old and new theory of economic growth. The field of economic growth has became again very dynamic and very interesting after appearance of seminal Romer's 1986 and Lucas's 1988 articles, which initiated so called new theory of economic growth, sometime termed as theory of endogenous technological progress. This new theory, in some very important issues, stands in a sharp contrast with the old neoclassical version of theory of economic growth, which similarly can be termed as the theory of exogenous technological progress Apart from the introduction and the concluding section, core of the article is presented in four sections. In first of them exposition of old version of neoclassical growth theory is given. In the following 3 sections survey of new theory is given. Version that eliminates assumption of diminishing returns to capital is discussed first. Than, version that uses human capital as engine of growth is presented. After that, models that use R&D as engine of growth is discussed. Models with spillovers from international trade are also shortly presented.