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General Purpose Technologies

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Author Info
Peter L. Rousseau
Boyan Jovanovic

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Abstract

This paper develops a set of criteria for identifying the arrival of a general purpose technology (GPT) and applies them to the electification and IT "revolutions" of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The criteria suggest that a GPT should be 1) pervasive, 2) improving over time, and 3) able to spawn new innovations. We find that electrification was more pervasive than IT, while IT has a clear lead with respect to improvement and innovation spawning

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Society for Economic Dynamics in its series 2004 Meeting Papers with number 103.

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Date of creation: 2004
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Handle: RePEc:red:sed004:103

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Related research
Keywords: GPT; Electrification; IT revolution;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
O11 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
N1 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations

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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. Philippon, Thomas & Reshef, Ariell, 2009. "Wages and Human Capital in the U.S. Financial Industry: 1909-2006," CEPR Discussion Papers 7282, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. David Andolfatto & Glenn MacDonald, 2004. "Jobless Recoveries," Macroeconomics 0412014, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  3. Klaus Desmet & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2007. "Spatial Growth and Industry Age," NBER Working Papers 13302, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Tomi Kyyrä & Mika Maliranta, 2006. "The Micro-Level Dynamics of Declining Labour Share: Lessons from the Finnish Great Leap," Discussion Papers 406, Government Institute for Economic Research Finland (VATT). [Downloadable!]
  5. Jan Youtie & Maurizio Iacopetta & Stuart Graham, 2008. "Assessing the nature of nanotechnology: can we uncover an emerging general purpose technology?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 315-329, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Ruttan, Vernon W., 2008. "General Purpose Technology, Revolutionary Technology, and Technological Maturity," Staff Papers 6206, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Geng Li, 2006. "Learning by investing--embodied technology and business cycles," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2007-15, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  8. Jorge Soares, 2009. "Welfare Impact of a Ban on Child Labor," Working Papers 09-01., University of Delaware, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Thomas Philippon & Ariell Reshef, 2009. "Wages and Human Capital in the U.S. Financial Industry: 1909-2006," NBER Working Papers 14644, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Boyan Jovanovic, 2007. "Investment Options and the Business Cycle," NBER Working Papers 13307, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Schiffbauer, Marc, 2008. "Catching Up or Falling Behind? The Effect of Infrastructure Capital on Technology Adoption in Transition Economies," Papers DYNREG27, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). [Downloadable!]
  12. Pástor, Luboš & Veronesi, Pietro, 2005. "Technological Revolutions and Stock Prices," CEPR Discussion Papers 5428, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Richard Dion & Robert Fay, 2008. "Understanding Productivity: A Review of Recent Technical Research," Discussion Papers 08-3, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
  14. Henrekson, Magnus & Edquist, Harald, 2006. "Technological Breakthroughs and Productivity Growth," Working Paper Series 665, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Edquist, Harald, 2005. "Do hedonic price indexes change history? The case of electrification," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 586, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 28 Feb 2005. [Downloadable!]
  16. Hyunbae Chun & Jung-Wook Kim & Jason Lee & Randall Morck, 2004. "Patterns of Comovement: The Role of Information Technology in the U.S. Economy," NBER Working Papers 10937, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Peter Thompson & Mihaela Pintea, 2007. "Sorting, Selection, and Industry Shakeouts," Working Papers 0702, Florida International University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Tomi Kyyrä & mika Maliranta, 2006. "The Micro-level Dynamics of Declining Labour Share: Lessons from Finnish Great Leap," Discussion Papers 1049, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy. [Downloadable!]
  19. Shih-tse Lo & Dhanoos Sutthiphisal, 2008. "Crossover Inventions And Knowledge Diffusion Of General Purpose Technologies? Evidence From The Electrical Technology," NBER Working Papers 14043, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. IKEDA Nobuo, 2003. "The Unbundling of Network Elements: Japan's Experience," Discussion papers 03023, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI). [Downloadable!]
  21. Ludwig, Volker & Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, 2005. "Abschreibungsraten allgemeiner und beruflicher Ausbildungsinhalte," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-36, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  22. Ryo Horii, 2006. "Wants and Past Knowledge: Growth Cycles with Emerging Industries," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 06-03, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics and Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP). [Downloadable!]
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  23. Lone E. Christiansen, 2008. "Do Technology Shocks Lead to Productivity Slowdowns? Evidence from Patent Data," IMF Working Papers 08/24, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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