Innovation, specialization and growth in a model of structural change

The aim of this paper is to investigate the nexus between demand patterns and innovation as it stems from research efforts and the extent of specialization. In the proposed model an innovation race conducted by entrants investing in research and development against established incumbents raises productivity at the industry level and leads to a shift in the aggregate demand pattern and consequently to a redistribution of the profit fund among industries and a restructuring of the production process in each industry. The paper argues that the degree of development as reflected in a demand share distribution is characterized by a corresponding distribution of specialized sectors that becomes more even across industries as the development process proceeds and investigates the consequences in terms of economic growth.

Capital Movements and Currency Board in Argentina

The early 1990s currency board experiment in Argentina tamed inflation, but it eventually had other disastrous consequences. The pursuit of orthodox policies meant that within a decade the economy was in shambles

Development Theory and Transition

This paper aims at contributiing a reflection on the extant theory of development and on its failure to cogently come to grips with the process of transformation from a backward economy to a modern industrial one. What is normally left out of most of these theories is an analytical account of what can be defined as transitional paths: the crossover from a state of low-level of productivity and slow growth near equilibrium to one of high productivity and consequently high income. On the contrary, theories abound on smooth, albeit slow, virtuous circles driving development processes or on low-level traps of various kinds leading to viciuos circles of growth.The view that is taken here is a the process of structural change exhibits discontinuities

Constraints and freedom of action: a fitness trade-off.

This paper attempts to discuss the role of constraints in network formation and in the exploration process of complex spaces of fitness possiblities. It is held that similarities appear in both social and biological systems. The paper further argues that constraints are instrumental in setting a fitness trade-off between specialised and across-the-board searching