Abstract
Invention is a fundamental driver of growth in living standards around the world. Trade and technology diffusion are two ways the benefit of an invention spreads to other countries. Impediments to diffusion give rise to differences in living standards and to comparative advantage in production, providing an incentive to trade. We review some basic facts. We then provide a simple model of the connections among these processes, showing how it can explain these facts.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Aghion, P., and P. Howitt. 1992. A model of growth through creative destruction. Econometrica 60: 323–351.
Armington, P.S. 1969. A theory of demand for products distinguished by place of production. IMF Staff Papers 16: 159–178.
Diamond, J. 1997. Guns, germs, and steel. New York: W.W. Norton.
Dornbusch, R., S. Fischer, and P.A. Samuelson. 1977. Comparative advantage, trade, and payments in a Ricardian model with a continuum of goods. American Economic Review 67: 823–839.
Eaton, J., and S. Kortum. 1999. International technology diffusion: Theory and measurement. International Economic Review 40: 537–570.
Eaton, J., and S. Kortum. 2001. Trade in capital goods. European Economic Review 45: 1195–1235.
Eaton, J., and S. Kortum. 2002. Technology, geography, and trade. Econometrica 70: 1741–1780.
Eaton, J., and Kortum, S. 2007a. Innovation, diffusion, and trade. In Entrepreneurship, innovation, and the growth mechanism of the free-enterprise economies, ed. E. Sheshinski, R. Strom and W. Baumol, 276–299. Princeton University Press.
Eaton, J., and S. Kortum. 2007b. Technology and the global economy: A framework for quantitative analysis. Manuscript: New York University and University of Chicago.
Grossman, G.M., and E. Helpman. 1991. Innovation and growth in the global economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Jones, C.I. 1995. R&D-based models of economic growth. Journal of Political Economy 103: 759–784.
Kortum, S. 1997. Research, patenting, and technological change. Econometrica 65: 1389–1419.
Krugman, P.R. 1979. A model of innovation, technology transfer, and the world distribution of income. Journal of Political Economy 87: 253–266.
Maddison, A. 2003. The world economy: Historical statistics (CD ROM). Paris: OECD.
Nelson, R.R., and E.S. Phelps. 1966. Investment in humans, technological diffusion, and economic growth. American Economic Review 56: 69–75.
Rodriguez-Clare, A. 2007. Trade, diffusion, and the gains from openness. Mimeo: Pennsylvania State University.
Romer, P.M. 1990. Endogenous technical change. Journal of Political Economy 98(5): S71–S102.
Schmookler, J. 1966. Invention and economic growth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vernon, R. 1966. International investment and trade in the product cycle. Quarterly Journal of Economics 80: 190–207.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Eaton, J., Kortum, S. (2018). Trade, Technology Diffusion and Growth. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2577
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2577
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95188-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95189-5
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences