IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/208.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Path dependence, endogenous innovation, and growth

Author

Listed:
  • Redding, Stephen

Abstract

This paper presents a model of endogenous innovation and growth, in which technological change is path dependent. The historical pattern of technological development plays a central role in determining the pace of future technological change. Path dependence is explained using a distinction between fundamental and secondary knowledge. The economy moves endogenously between periods of drastic and nondrastic innovation. Technological lock-in is shown to be a special case of path dependence. The model provides a rationale for cycles in technological leadership. This rationale exists in equilibria with positive levels of fundamental research and in a world with no imitation.

Suggested Citation

  • Redding, Stephen, 2002. "Path dependence, endogenous innovation, and growth," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 208, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:208
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/208/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Parente Stephen L., 1994. "Technology Adoption, Learning-by-Doing, and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 346-369, August.
    2. Broadberry, S N, 1994. "Technological Leadership and Productivity Leadership in Manufacturing since the Industrial Revolution: Implications for the Convergence Debate," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(423), pages 291-302, March.
    3. Jovanovic, Boyan & Nyarko, Yaw, 1996. "Learning by Doing and the Choice of Technology," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1299-1310, November.
    4. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1991. "Quality Ladders in the Theory of Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(1), pages 43-61.
    5. Arthur, W Brian, 1989. "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(394), pages 116-131, March.
    6. Jovanovic, Boyan & Rob, Rafael, 1990. "Long Waves and Short Waves: Growth through Intensive and Extensive Search," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(6), pages 1391-1409, November.
    7. Young, Alwyn, 1993. "Invention and Bounded Learning by Doing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 443-472, June.
    8. David, Paul A, 1985. "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 332-337, May.
    9. Broadberry,Steve N., 2005. "The Productivity Race," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521023580.
    10. Rosenberg,Nathan, 1994. "Exploring the Black Box," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521459556, October.
    11. Brezis, Elise S & Krugman, Paul R & Tsiddon, Daniel, 1993. "Leapfrogging in International Competition: A Theory of Cycles in National Technological Leadership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1211-1219, December.
    12. Chari, V V & Hopenhayn, Hugo, 1991. "Vintage Human Capital, Growth, and the Diffusion of New Technology," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(6), pages 1142-1165, December.
    13. Lars G. Sandberg, 1969. "American Rings and English Mules: The Role of Economic Rationality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 83(1), pages 25-43.
    14. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1996. "Research and Development in the Growth Process," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 49-73, March.
    15. Edwin Mansfield & John Rapoport & Jerome Schnee & Samuel Wagner & Michael Hamburger, 1971. "Research and Innovation in the Modern Corporation," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-01639-6, December.
    16. Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt, 1997. "Endogenous Growth Theory," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011662, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Zohal Hessami, 2016. "How Do Voters React to Complex Choices in a Direct Democracy? Evidence from Switzerland," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 263-293, May.
    2. Karsten Wasiluk, 2015. "Path dependence and induced innovation," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2015-22, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    3. Thomas J. Holmes, 1996. "Step-by-step migration to efficient agglomerations," Staff Report 221, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    4. Esteban Jaimovich, 2021. "Quality growth: from process to product innovation along the path of development," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(2), pages 761-793, March.
    5. Garicano, Luis & Rossi-Hansberg, Esteban, 2012. "Organizing growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 147(2), pages 623-656.
    6. Rob Hart, 2009. "Bad Eggs, Learning-by-doing, and the Choice of Technology," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 42(4), pages 429-450, April.
    7. Mulder, Peter & de Groot, Henri L. F. & Hofkes, Marjan W., 2003. "Explaining slow diffusion of energy-saving technologies; a vintage model with returns to diversity and learning-by-using," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 105-126, February.
    8. Michele Boldrin & David K Levine, 2005. "Perfectly Competitive Innovation (Growth)," Levine's Working Paper Archive 122247000000000886, David K. Levine.
    9. Karp, Larry & Lee, In Ho, 2001. "Learning-by-Doing and the Choice of Technology: The Role of Patience," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 73-92, September.
    10. Ghosh, Arghya & Kato, Takao & Morita, Hodaka, 2017. "Incremental innovation and competitive pressure in the presence of discrete innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1-14.
    11. Christopher Spencer & Paul Temple, 2012. "Alternative Paths of Learning: Standardisation and Growth in Britain, 1901-2009," Discussion Paper Series 2012_10, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Oct 2012.
    12. Uwe Cantner & Simone Vannuccini, 2012. "A New View of General Purpose Technologies," Jena Economics Research Papers 2012-054, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    13. Larry Karp & In Ho Lee, 1998. "Learning by Doing and the Choice of Technology," Levine's Working Paper Archive 2065, David K. Levine.
    14. Christopher Spencer & Paul Temple, 2016. "Standards, learning, and growth in Britain, 1901–2009," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 69(2), pages 627-652, May.
    15. Peter Thompson & Mihaela Pintea, 2005. "Technological Complexity, R&D and Education: Some Pleasant Arithmetic," Computing in Economics and Finance 2005 185, Society for Computational Economics.
    16. Broadberry, S. N., 1995. "Comparative productivity levels in manufacturing since the Industrial Revolution: Lessons from Britain, America, Germany and Japan," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 71-95, March.
    17. A. Bassanini, 1997. "Localized Technological Change and Path-Dependent Growth," Working Papers ir97086, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
    18. Thompson, Peter, 2010. "Learning by Doing," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 429-476, Elsevier.
    19. Iyigun, Murat, 2006. "Clusters of invention, life cycle of technologies and endogenous growth," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 687-719, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    endogenous innovation; fundamental knowledge; path dependence; research and development (R&D); technological lock-in.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

    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:ehl:lserod:208. 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: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    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.