Technology, trade and growth: some empirical findings

International patent data for 39 countries from 1970 to 1985 are used to create proxies for imitation and innovation. Domestic imitation and innovation both appear to depend positively on high technology imports from developed countries, intellectual property rights, and the size of the economy. Additionally, transportation and communication infrastructure and quality adjusted research effort are found to contribute positively to domestic innovation. Finally, growth in real per capita GDP is positively related to physical capital stock growth, foreign and domestic innovation, and negatively related to initial GDP levels, consistent with conditional convergence hypotheses. Interestingly, foreign technology from developed countries appears to play a greater role in per capita GDP growth than domestic innovation.