Microeconomics of Technology Adoption

Andrew Foster and Mark Rosenzweig

Working Papers from Economic Growth Center, Yale University

Abstract: There is an emerging consensus among macro-economists that differences in technology across countries accounts for the major differences in per-capita GDP and the wages of workers with similar skills across countries. Accounting for differences in technology levels across countries thus can go a long way towards understanding global inequality. One mechanism by which poorer countries can catch up with richer countries is through technological diffusion, the adoption by low-income countries of the advanced technologies produced in high-income countries. In this survey, we examine recent micro studies that focus on understanding the adoption process. If technological diffusion is a major channel by which poor countries can develop, it must be the case that technology adoption is incomplete or the inputs associated with the technologies are under-utilized in poor, or slow-growing economies. Thus, obtaining a better understanding of the constraints on adoption are useful in understanding a major component of growth.

Keywords: technology adoption; review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 O13 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2010-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-soc
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (319)

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http://www.econ.yale.edu/growth_pdf/cdp984.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Microeconomics of Technology Adoption (2010)
Working Paper: Microeconomics of Technology Adoption (2010)
Working Paper: Microeconomics of Technology Adoption (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:egc:wpaper:984

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