Technology adoption, adaptation and growth

Technology Adoption and Growth Dynamics

We study the lags with which new technologies are adopted across countries, and their penetration rates once they are adopted. Using data from the last two centuries, we estimate both the extensive and the intensive margins of technology adoption. We document two new facts: there has been convergence in adoption lags between rich and poor countries, while there has been divergence in penetratio...

Technology Adoption, Human Capital, and Growth Theory

This paper explores a model in which growth is determined by a combination of human capital and technology adoption. At the heart of the model is the notion of \contiguous knowledge" { the idea that knowledge spreads out a certain distance. Because of this property of knowledge, a developing country can adopt existing technology only when it is su±ciently close to the technological frontier. Th...

Endogenous Growth, Backstop Technology Adoption and Optimal Jumps

We study a two-phase endogenous growth model in which the adoption of a backstop technology (e.g. solar) yields a sustained supply of essential energy inputs previously obtained from exhaustible resources (e.g. oil). Growth is knowledge-driven and the optimal timing of technology switching is determined by welfare maximization. The optimal path exhibits discrete jumps in endogenous variables: t...

Strategic Technology Adoption under Technological Uncertainty

Contracts and Technology Adoption

We develop a tractable framework for the analysis of the relationship between contractual incompleteness, technological complementarities, and technology adoption. In our model a …rm chooses its technology and investment levels in contractible activities by suppliers of intermediate inputs. Suppliers then choose investments in noncontractible activities, anticipating payo¤s from an ex post barg...