Technological Innovation and Inclusive Growth in Germany. Bertelsmann Stiftung Inclusive Growth for Germany|18

Economic growth in Germany is no longer as inclusive as it used to be. Between 1990 and 2010 all measures of income and wealth inequality rose considerably,1 which even led the media to portray Germany as a ‘divided nation’.2 Income inequality was relatively low before 1990, and even declined over much of the 20th century, but changed direction after German unification. The rise in income inequality from 1990 onwards is depicted in Figure 1 through various inequality indicators and the ‘at-risk-of-poverty rate’. It can be seen that all measures of income inequality (before and after tax) increased markedly after 1990 along with the ‘at-risk-ofpoverty rate’.3 Felbermayr et al. (2014) furthermore document that the rise in wage inequality was faster in Germany than in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada between the mid-1990s and 2010. This rise in income and wage inequality has been accompanied, and to a certain extent occasioned, by a simultaneous increase in wealth inequality. Using data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), Frick and Grabka (2009) show, that the Gini coefficient for wealth increased from 0.77 to 0.80 during this period, and wealth grew particularly strongly at the top 1 percent of the wealth distribution

Is War Necessary for Economic Growth? Military Procurement and Technology Development

New radical general purpose technologies have been the drivers of economic growth in the United States economy in recent economic history. In this paper I review the role of military and defense related research, technology development, and procurement in the development of the aircraft, nuclear power, computer, semiconductor, internet and the space communication and earth observing industries. The development of each of these industries would have been substantially delayed in the absence of support for research, technology development and procurement by the military and defense related agencies. Rates of productivity and output growth would have been substantially slower. By the early 1990's it was becoming clear that changes in the United States economy, of the defense industrial base, and in United States military and defense strategy meant that the defense and defense related industries would no longer play a prominent role in the development of new general purpose technologies. There has been a relative decline in investment in basic research and in early stage technology development in the private sector. The United States has yet to develop a coherent strategy for the public support of commercial technology development. My own sense is that when the history of United States technology development for the next half century is eventually written it will be characterized by incremental rather than revolutionary changes in both military and commercial technology. It will also be written in the context of slower productivity and output growth than the rates that prevailed in the United States during the first several post war decades or since the beginning of the information technology bubble that began in the early 1990s.International Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

EVALUATING MEASURES TO IMPROVE AGRICULTURAL INPUT USE

This paper provides guidelines to assist policymakers and analysts in (1) identifying promising public and private actions for promoting agricultural intensification by improving the availability and profitability of agricultural inputs; and (2) evaluating the relative costs and benefits of alternative actions. The guidelines are illustrated by reference to a study of phosphate fertilizer promotion in Mali originally conducted by IFDC researchers.Farm Management,

Interaction of Drastic and Incremental Innovations: Economic Development through Schumpterian Waves

Technological progress as a major source of economic development stems from the interaction of two types of innovations, drastic and incremental. While the former sets the fundamental pace of economic progress by redefining production possibilities as Schumpeter strongly emphasized, the latter takes the basic framework as given but pushes the production possibilities frontier outwards marginally in production practice. This paper studies the dynamic interaction and effects of these endogenously-determined innovations. Upstream firms in the model "produce" drastic innovation, which turns out brand new technology and obsolesces the existing technology used by downstream firms that specialize in final goods production. After the downstream firms adopt the new technology, they can improve it further by their incremental innovations. Economic development is shaped as successive Schumpeterian waves, where each wave begins with a great leap forward in technology which is followed by a sequence of adjustments. It is found that a rise in the success probability of future drastic innovations will discourage current efforts at drastic innovation but stimulate incremental innovations. More effort by downstream firms in incremental R&D reduces upstream firms' incentives for drastic R&D. The model ensures at least one dynamic equilibrium. In the case of multiple equilibria, an equilibrium with larger investment in drastic innovation has less expenditure on incremental innovation. The comparative static analysis shows that a reduction in the expansiveness of drastic innovation, and an increase in the total sales of downstream firms and in the significance of drastic innovation will raise (reduce) drastic (incremental) R&D efforts in stationary equilibrium.

The Prospects for Activity in the UKCS to 2050 under "Lower for Longer" Oil and Gas Price Scenarios, and the Unexploited Potential

Publisher PD

Industrial Relations System Transformation

This paper analyzes the concept of “transformation” that many allege has occurred recently in a wide variety of national industrial relations systems. After a summary of the debate, with particular reference to the contentious case of Germany, the authors attempt to develop a definition of industrial relations system transformation on the basis of biological analogies and, in particular, the “punctuated equilibrium” theory. They examine the cases of the United States, Sweden, South Africa, and New Zealand, and conclude that the application of the biological frameworks raises a set of fundamental questions that must be addressed in order for the debate over the existence of industrial relations transformation to move forward

Economic Evaluation of Pest Management Technologies for Sustainable Cotton Production in Punjab

This study has been undertaken to make cotton production in the state of Punjab globally competitive by reducing the cost of production at farmer’s level through adoption of new pest management technologies, namely Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Insecticides Resistant Management (IRM). A sample of ten experimental and ten control plots has been taken for each technology in four villages of the cotton belt of Punjab. The study has revealed that the adopters of IPM and IRM technology could get significantly higher yield as compared to that by non-adopters. These technologies have been found cost-effective due to higher production and could reduce the per quintal production cost by Rs 253 and Rs 175, respectively. These technologies have been found to generate more income and employment as the adopters could earn Rs 6840/ha and Rs 5901/ha more income as compared to that by the nonadopters. The gain in human employment due to adoption of these technologies has been of 11 humandays/ha and 12 humandays/ha, respectively. The IPM and IRM technologies have reduced the pesticides consumption by 67 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively. The cost-benefit analysis has shown these technologies to be economically viable. The study has suggested that these technologies should be propagated among the farmers in the cotton belt of Punjab. These technologies will reduce the chemicals-consumption and enhance the productivity of cotton on sustainable basis with lower cost of production, which in turn would protect the environmental health and economic condition of the debtridden cotton growers on a long-term basis.Crop Production/Industries,

Technological Development and Medical Productivity: The Diffusion of Angioplasty in New York State

A puzzling feature of many medical innovations is that they simultaneously appear to reduce unit costs and increase total costs. We consider this phenomenon by examining the diffusion of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) -- a treatment for coronary artery disease -- over the past two decades. We find that growth in the use of PTCA led to higher total costs despite its lower unit cost. Over the two decades following PTCA's introduction, however, we find that the magnitude of this increase was reduced by between 10% and 20% due to the substitution of PTCA for CABG. In addition, the increased use of PTCA appears to be a productivity improvement. PTCAs that substitute for CABG cost less and have the same or better outcomes, while PTCAs that replace medical management appear to improve health by enough to justify the cost.