Trade in Ideas: Patenting and Productivity in the OECD

Abstract

We develop and estimate a model of technological innovation and its contribution to growth at home and abroad. International patents indicate where innovations come from and where they are used. Countries grow at a common steady-state rate. A country's relative productivity depends upon its capacity to absorb technology. We estimate that, except for the United States, OECD countries derive almost all of their productivity growth from abroad.