During the late 1990s the market value of U.S. businesses grew at 15% per year. It is hard to reconcile such fast growth with observed rates of investment in physical capital and R&D. We therefore propose a model in which new ideas are privately owned but discovering them does not require resources. In our model it is possible that market value rises very rapidly without drastic changes in fact...

This paper o"ers an explanation for the coexistence of convergence across countries and the lack thereof at the regional level in the European Union. The model shows that, even if it accelerates growth and brings convergence across countries, the intensi5cation of international knowledge spillovers due to more cross-country interaction may exacerbate within-country regional disparities, if regi...

A dynamic general equilibrium model is constructed to analyze the effects of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) on the member countries as well as on the U.S. economy. By taking into account dynamic adjustments, we find that while the effects of MERCOSUR on its member countries’ investment, consumer welfare and national product are positive, the respective effects on the U.S. economy are neg...

Competition among banks promotes growth and stability for an economy with production externality. Following Arrow and Debreu (1954) [6], I formulate a standard growth model with externality—a twoperiod version of Romer (1986) [39]—as a game among consumers, firms, and intermediaries. The Walrasian equilibrium, with an auctioneer, does not achieve the social optimum. Without an auctioneer or int...

We analyze in this paper the growth and welfare consequences arising from the lack of auditing commitment in a credit market with costly state verification. Specifically, two endogenous growth models, of which one allows lenders to commit to costly auditing strategies to identify borrowers’ investment returns and the other does not, are compared. We show that the inability to commit acts as an ...

We present a growth model in which investment in physical capital shows positive externalities which build up knowledge capital. A prerequisite for these spillovers to take place is that a country devotes time to education. Externalities associated with investment need education to raise the stock of knowledge capital. Analyzing the competitive economy we demonstrate that the model may explain ...

Because of its inappropriability, protection of property rights is widely recognized as being the state’s responsibility. Moreover, recent empirical evidence suggests that it leads to higher investment levels and faster growth. Nevertheless, the extent of property rights protection differs significantly across countries. This paper endogenizes the emergence of property rights within a simple gr...

As opposed to the Veblen-Gerschenkron catching-up hypothesis, the recent literature allows for technological divergence in backward economies. We extend a non-linear adoption function to include openness and interact with capital accumulation in an intertemporal general equilibrium framework. The threshold gap necessary to catch-up is endogenously determined by the economy’s absorptive capacity...

This study explores the importance of tacit knowledge transfer for international technology di¤usion by examining ethnic scienti…c communities in the US and their ties to their home countries. US ethnic research communities are quanti…ed by applying an ethnic-name database to individual patent records. International patent citations con…rm knowledge di¤uses through ethnic networks, and manufact...

We analyze in this paper the growth and welfare consequences arising from the lack of auditing commitment in a credit market with costly state verification. Specifically, two endogenous growth models, of which one allows lenders to commit to costly auditing strategies to identify borrowers’ investment returns and the other does not, are compared. We show that the inability to commit acts as an ...