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Diffusion of General Purpose Technologies

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Author Info
Elhanan Helpman
Manuel Trajtenberg

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Abstract

History and theory alike suggest that General Purpose Technologies (GPT's), such as the steam engine or electricity, may play a key role in economic growth. In a previous paper (Helpman and Trajtenberg, 1994) we incorporated this notion into a Grossman-Helpman growth model, and explored the economy-wide dynamics that a GPT generates. The present paper deals with the diffusion of the GPT over heterogeneous final-good sectors. We show that the gradual adoption of the GPT by each user sector generates a sequence of two-phased cycles, culminating in a bringing about a spell of sustained growth. We also analyze the welfare implications of the order of adoption, by way of numerical simulations. As a diffusion of the transistor (the first embodiment of semiconductors, the dominant GPT of our era), and seek to characterize both the early adopters and the laggards in terms of the parameters of the model.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 5773.

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Date of creation: Sep 1996
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Publication status: published as General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth, Helpman, E., ed., Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998.
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5773

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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. Trajtenberg, M. & Bresnahan, T.F., 1992. "General Purpose Technologies: "Engines of Growth"," Papers 16-92, Tel Aviv.
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  2. Judd, Kenneth L, 1985. "On the Performance of Patents," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(3), pages 567-85, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Susanto Basu & John G. Fernald & Nicholas Oulton & Sylaja Srinivasan, 2003. "The case of the missing productivity growth: or, does information technology explain why productivity accelerated in the United States but not the United Kingdom?," Working Paper Series WP-03-08, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. [Downloadable!]
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  2. BEAUDRY, Paul & COLLARD, Fabrice, 2001. "The Employment-Productivity Tradeoff around the 1980s : A Case for Medium Run Theory," IDEI Working Papers 137, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse, revised 2003. [Downloadable!]
  3. Evangelia Vourvachaki, 2006. "Information and Communication Technologies in a Multi-Sector Endogenous Growth Model," CEP Discussion Papers dp0750, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  4. Borghans,Lex & Weel,Bas,ter, 2002. "The Diffusion of Computers and the Distribution of Wages," Research Memoranda 039, Maastricht : MERIT, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Orlando Gomes, 2005. "Knowledge creation and technology difusion: a framework to understand economic growth," Revista de Analisis Economico – Economic Analysis Review, Ilades-Georgetown University, Economics Department, vol. 20(2), pages 41-61, December. [Downloadable!]
  6. Janet L. Yellen, 2005. "Productivity and inflation," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Feb 18. [Downloadable!]
  7. Boyan Jovanovic & Peter L. Rousseau, 2005. "General Purpose Technologies," NBER Working Papers 11093, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Zon,Adriaan ,van & Antonietti,Roberto, 2005. "Education and Training in a Model of Endogenous Growth with Creative Destruction," Research Memoranda 010, Maastricht : MERIT, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology. [Downloadable!]
  9. Andrew Atkeson & Patrick J. Kehoe, 2006. "Modeling the transition to a new economy: lessons from two technological revolutions," Staff Report 296, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Janet L. Yellen, 2005. "The U.S. economic outlook," Speech, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Feb 11. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Susanto Basu & John G. Fernald & Nicholas Oulton & Sylaja Srinivasan, 2003. "The Case of the Missing Productivty Growth: Or, Does Information Technology Explain why Productivity Accelerated in the US but not the UK?," NBER Working Papers 10010, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Toshiya Ishikawa, 2004. "Technology Diffusion and Business Cycle Asymmetry," DEGIT Conference Papers c009_016, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade. [Downloadable!]
  13. Chol-Won Li, 1998. "Growth, Knowledge Structure, and Qualtiy-Varierty Innovations," Working Papers 9705, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow. [Downloadable!]
  14. Zhi Li & Xiaopeng Yin,, 2004. "Endogenous Business Cycles with Consumption Externalities," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 402, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  15. R. Antonietti, 2005. "The role of general and firm-specific training for new technology adoption and economic growth: a critical review," Working Papers 538, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Università di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
  16. Nahuis, R., 1998. "The dynamics of a general purpose technology in a research and assimilation model," Discussion Paper 119, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  17. Andy Atkeson & Pat Kehoe, 2002. "The transition to a new economy after the Second Industrial Revolution," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Patrick Francois & Joanne Roberts, 2000. "Contracting Productivity Growth," Working Papers jorob-99-02, University of Toronto, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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