IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/oxecpp/v59y2007i4p682-701.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Specialization on a technologically stagnant sector need not be bad for growth

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriel J. Felbermayr

Abstract

This paper presents a two-sector, North-South model of endogenous growth, where the investment goods sector features learning by doing. There are no technological spillovers across countries that are integrated only via goods markets. In equilibrium, South specializes on the consumption sector. Despite strict concavity of the production function for consumption goods, the endogenous decline in the relative price of investment goods maintains the incentives for capital accumulation. Hence, specialization on the stagnant consumption sector does not entail a growth penalty. The model is consistent with a number of empirical observations: (i) the relative price of investment goods has been declining in many countries; (ii) poor countries are net importers of investment equipment; (iii) per capita income convergence has stopped in the sample of open economies. Copyright 2007 , Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriel J. Felbermayr, 2007. "Specialization on a technologically stagnant sector need not be bad for growth," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 59(4), pages 682-701, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:59:y:2007:i:4:p:682-701
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oep/gpm002
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raouf Boucekkine & Fernando Del Río & Omar Licandro, 2003. "Embodied Technological Change, Learning‐by‐doing and the Productivity Slowdown," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 105(1), pages 87-98, March.
    2. Maurice Obstfeld & Alan M. Taylor, 2003. "Globalization and Capital Markets," NBER Chapters, in: Globalization in Historical Perspective, pages 121-188, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Grilli, Enzo R & Yang, Maw Cheng, 1988. "Primary Commodity Prices, Manufactured Goods Prices, and the Terms of Trade of Developing Countries: What the Long Run Shows," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 2(1), pages 1-47, January.
    4. Zhiqi Chen, 1992. "Long-Run Equilibria in a Dynamic Heckscher-Ohlin Model," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 25(4), pages 923-943, November.
    5. Felbermayr Gabriel J & Licandro Omar, 2005. "The Underestimated Virtues of the Two-sector AK Model," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, September.
    6. Jason G. Cummins & Giovanni L. Violante, 2002. "Investment-Specific Technical Change in the US (1947-2000): Measurement and Macroeconomic Consequences," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 5(2), pages 243-284, April.
    7. Rebelo, Sergio, 1991. "Long-Run Policy Analysis and Long-Run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 500-521, June.
    8. Daron Acemoglu & Jaume Ventura, 2002. "The World Income Distribution," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(2), pages 659-694.
    9. William Easterly & Ross Levine & David Roodman, 2003. "New Data, New doubts: A Comment on Burnside and Dollar's "Aid, Policies, and Growth" (2000)," NBER Working Papers 9846, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Nancy L. Stokey, 1991. "Human Capital, Product Quality, and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 587-616.
    11. Jaume Ventura, 1997. "Growth and Interdependence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 57-84.
    12. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    13. Michael D. Bordo & Alan M. Taylor & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2003. "Globalization in Historical Perspective," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number bord03-1.
    14. Restuccia, Diego & Urrutia, Carlos, 2001. "Relative prices and investment rates," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 93-121, February.
    15. William Easterly & Ross Levine & David Roodman, 2004. "Aid, Policies, and Growth: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 774-780, June.
    16. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hiroaki Sasaki, 2013. "Positive and Negative Population Growth and Long-Run Trade Patterns: A Non-Scale Growth Model," Discussion papers e-13-004, Graduate School of Economics Project Center, Kyoto University.
    2. Hiroaki Sasaki, 2011. "Trade, Non‐Scale Growth And Uneven Development," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 691-711, November.
    3. Maoz, Yishay D. & Peled, Dan & Sarid, Assaf, 2011. "Trade agreements, bargaining and economic growth," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 92-101, March.
    4. Gabriel J. Felbermayr, 2005. "Dynamic Panel Data Evidence on the Trade-Income Relation," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 141(4), pages 583-611, December.
    5. Hiroaki Sasaki, 2008. "North-South Asymmetry in Returns to Scale, Uneven Development, and the Population Puzzle," TERG Discussion Papers 238, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University.
    6. Hiroaki Sasaki, 2012. "Trade Patterns and Non-Scale Growth between Two Countries," Discussion papers e-12-006, Graduate School of Economics Project Center, Kyoto University.
    7. Sasaki, Hiroaki, 2017. "Population growth and trade patterns in semi-endogenous growth economies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-12.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:got:cegedp:24 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Klenow, Peter J. & Rodriguez-Clare, Andres, 2005. "Externalities and Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 11, pages 817-861, Elsevier.
    3. Jérôme Creel & Maurizio Iacopetta, 2015. "Macroeconomic policy and potential growth," Working Papers hal-03459896, HAL.
    4. Serhan Cevik & Mohammad Rahmati, 2015. "Breaking the Curse of Sisyphus: An Empirical Analysis of Post-Conflict Economic Transitions," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 57(4), pages 569-597, December.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3d1rt55ran82d86guhaponket6 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Nils Herger, 2015. "An uncovered interest parity condition that worked - The continental investment demand for London bills of exchange during the gold standard (1880 -1914)," Working Papers 15.04, Swiss National Bank, Study Center Gerzensee.
    7. Auer, Raphael A., 2015. "Human capital and the dynamic effects of trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 107-118.
    8. Alejandro Cunat & Marco Maffezzoli, 2004. "Neoclassical Growth and Commodity Trade," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(3), pages 707-736, July.
    9. Trofimov Georgy, 2003. "Regimes of Growth and Economic Integration. Why Poor Countries Cannot Join the "Club" of the Rich?," EERC Working Paper Series 03-03e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    10. Nazrul Islam, 2003. "What have We Learnt from the Convergence Debate?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 309-362, July.
    11. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3d1rt55ran82d86guhaponket6 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Gabriel Felbermayr, 2004. "Does trade cause divergence? Dynamic panel data evidence," Economics working papers 2004-07, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    13. Rao, B. Bhaskara, 2010. "Estimates of the steady state growth rates for selected Asian countries with an extended Solow model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 46-53, January.
    14. Raffaello Bronzini & Paolo Piselli, 2006. "Determinants of long-run regional productivity: the role of R&D, human capital and public infrastructure," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 597, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    15. Antonio Ciccone & Giovanni Peri & Douglas Almond, "undated". "Capital, Wages, and Growth: Theory and Evidence," Working Papers 152, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    16. Andersson, Fredrik N.G. & Edgerton, David L. & Opper, Sonja, 2013. "A Matter of Time: Revisiting Growth Convergence in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 239-251.
    17. Sugata Marjit & Biswajit Mandal, 2017. "Virtual trade between separated time zones and growth," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 13(2), pages 171-183, June.
    18. Paulo B. Brito, 2022. "The dynamics of growth and distribution in a spatially heterogeneous world," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 21(3), pages 311-350, September.
    19. Dalila Nicet-Chenaf & Eric Rougier, 2009. "Human capital and structural change: how do they interact with each others in growth," Post-Print hal-00798441, HAL.
    20. Pozzolo, Alberto Franco, 2004. "Endogenous Growth in Open Economies - A Survey of Major Results," Economics & Statistics Discussion Papers esdp04020, University of Molise, Department of Economics.
    21. Samuel de Abreu Pessôa, 2001. "Um Modelo de Acumulação de Capital Físico e Humano: Um Diálogo Com a Economia do Trabalho," Anais do XXIX Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 29th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 035, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    22. Gancia, Gino & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 2005. "Horizontal Innovation in the Theory of Growth and Development," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 111-170, Elsevier.
    23. Been‐Lon Chen & Shun‐Fa Lee, 2012. "Intersectoral Spillovers, Relative Prices and Development Traps," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 243-261, May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:59:y:2007:i:4:p:682-701. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/oep .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.