Trends in Growth Convergence and Divergence and Changes in Technological Access and Capabilities

This paper goes into detail in the pattern of growth over the last thirty to forty years at the world level. A model is developed in which different aspects of technological change and their influence on growth will be outlined. This model is used in estimations for cross-country OECD-samples of 1973-1996 growth paths, as well as in panel databases for yearly growth rates over the 1973-1996 period. In addition, an analytical technique is developed which identifies different empirical sources for specific convergence or divergence trends within the OECD area. Moreover, we show that traditional factors are only partially able to explain the recent divergence relative to the US. Hence, we introduce ‘new’ factors explaining this trend.economics of technology ;

Pan-European industrial networks as factor of convergence or divergence within Europe

Book description: European integration can no longer be understood as a west European experiment mainly focused on functional and economic policy cooperation. The issues addressed include security and defence, as well as core concerns of European society. This volume explores three interlocking dimensions of integration; functional, territorial, and affiliational. Each dimension influences how countries across the continent engage with European integration. This first volume in the One Europe or Several? series identifies the agenda of a research programme, funded by the British Economic and Social Research Council

Growth, structural change and technological capabilities Latin America in a comparative perspective

Countries differ in terms of technological capabilities and complexity of production structures.According to that, countries may follow different development strategies: one based onextracting rents from abundant endowments, such as labor or natural resources, and the otherfocused on creating rents through intangibles, basically innovation and knowledgeaccumulation. The present article studies international convergence and divergence, linkingstructural change with trade and growth through a North South Ricardian model. The analysisfocuses on the asymmetries between Latin America and mature and catching up economies.Empirical evidence supports that a shift in the composition of the production structure in favorof R&D intensive sectors allows achieving higher rates of growth in the long term andincreases the capacity to respond to demand changes. A virtuous export-led growth requireslaggard countries to reduce the technological gap with respect to more advanced ones. Hence,abundance of factor endowments requires to be matched with technological capabilitiesdevelopment for countries to converge in the long term.

Vive la différence. Disaggregation of the productivity convergence process

Editada en la Fundación Empresa PúblicaEste trabajo examina el proceso de convergencia en perspectiva histórica a nivel desagregado. Tomando en consideración la producción, la renta y el gasto este trabajo muestra una gran diversidad geográfica y temporal. Cada país se especializó según su ventaja comparativa y la convergencia se produjo tanto a través de cambios en su estructura productiva, como a niveles microeconómicos. Asimismo, variaciones en la proporción de las facturas condujo a una mejor convergencia de la renta sin necesidad de una mayor aproximación de los precios de los factores. El trabajo demuestra también que persistieron importantes diferencias en las preferencias de los consumidores. Así pues, el proceso de convergencia a nivel agregado no condujo necesariamente a la uniformidad de las economías. ¡Vive la differénce!This papaer examines the convergence process at a disaggregated level in a historical context. A trhee-way disaggregation of the national accounts by output, income and expenditure a wealth of diversity, both over time across countríes, i.e. history and geography tnatter. Countries can specialise according to comparative advantage, and convergence at the aggregate level can occur through changes in structure as well as through convergence at the micro level. Similarly, changes in factor proportions may lead to convergence of aggregate incomes without requiring convergence of all factor prices at the micro level. Also, differences in preferences may persist, so that individual components of expenditure do not need to converge in line with aggregate expenditure. Convergence at the aggregate level, then, does not necessarily lead to uniformity. Vive la différence!Publicad

Globalization, Trade, and Development: Some Lessons From History

Recent research in international economic history has opened up new lines of enquiry on the origins of globalization, as well as its causes and consequences. Such findings have the potential to inform contemporary debates and this paper considers what lessons this body of historical work has for our current understanding of the linkages between trade and development.