Open Economy Schumpeterian Growth

This paper examines the Aghion and Howitt (1992) ''creative destruction'' endogenous growth model in an open economy setting. We consider four alternative trade regimes. The first two regimes allow the monopoly producer of the intermediate good to attain worldwide monopoly rents. In the first of the two, the countries engage in trade of only the imperfectly produced intermediate good. In the second, the two countries trade in both the intermediate good as well as in ideas. The last two regimes consider two countries which are identical before and after trade opens such that pro-competitive gains from trade are achieved. We again consider when only intermediaries may be traded and thereafter when both intermediaries and ideas may be traded. We find that the effects of trade on growth and welfare depend critically on the assumptions one imposes.