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Closing the Technology Gap?
Author(s) -
Castellacci Fulvio
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
review of development economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1467-9361
pISSN - 1363-6669
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9361.2010.00601.x
Subject(s) - economics , human capital , per capita income , absorptive capacity , stock (firearms) , per capita , closing (real estate) , sample (material) , convergence (economics) , demographic economics , technological change , carry (investment) , economic geography , economic growth , industrial organization , macroeconomics , geography , population , chemistry , demography , archaeology , finance , chromatography , sociology
This paper focuses on the dimensions shaping the dynamics of technology. We present a model where the knowledge stock of a country grows over time as a function of three main factors: innovation intensity, technological infrastructures, and human capital. The latter two variables determine the absorptive capacity of a country as well as its innovative ability. We then carry out an empirical analysis that investigates the dynamics of technology in a large sample of economies in the last two‐decade period, and studies its relationships with income per capita growth. The results indicate that the cross‐country distributions of technological infrastructures and human capital have experienced a process of convergence, whereas the innovative intensity is characterized by increasing polarization between rich and poor economies. Thus, while the conditions for catching up have generally improved, the increasing innovation gap represents a major factor behind the observed differences in income per capita.