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Embodied technological change learning-by-doing and the productivity slowdown

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  • Raouf BOUCEKKINE

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES) and UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE))

  • Fernando DEL RIO

    (Universidad de Santiago de Composela)

  • Omar LICANDRO

    (European University Institute (Florence-Italy) and FEDEA (Madrid-Spain))

Abstract

The productivity slowdown faced by the US economy since the first oil shock has been associated with a rise in the decline rate of the relative price of equipment and a reduction in the rate of disembodied technical change. We build up a growth model in which learning-by-doing is the engine of both embodied and disembodied technological progress. A change in the relative efficiency of learning-by-doing from the consumption to the investment sector is shown to imply a technological reassignment consistent with the above mentioned evidence. This result derives from the interaction between the obsolescence costs inherent to embodiment and the learning-by-doing engine.

Suggested Citation

  • Raouf BOUCEKKINE & Fernando DEL RIO & Omar LICANDRO, 2002. "Embodied technological change learning-by-doing and the productivity slowdown," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2002028, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    • Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvir:2002028
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Embodied technical progress; Obsolescence; Learning-by-doing; Productivity slowdown;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques

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