We estimate productivities at the sector level for 75 countries and 5 decades, and examine how they evolve over time in both developed and developing countries. We find that in both country groups, comparative advantage has become weaker: productivity grew systematically faster in sectors that were initially at the greater comparative disadvantage. The global welfare implications of this phenom...

We examine the number of patent applications for climate change mitigation technologies (CCMT) filed at the European Patent Office and seek to relate it to the oversupply of emission allowances under the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS). We use a panel count data approach to show that firms covered by the policy take the oversupply into account when determining their level of inn...

Using the tools of real-options theory, Farzin, Huisman and Kort (1998) investigate the optimal timing of technology adoption in a model in which there is ongoing technological progress and the "rm's investment decision is irreversible. When the "rm can switch technologies n(R times, Farzin et al. (1998) obtain the surprising result that the criterion for adopting a new technology derived from ...

Using firm-level data for three Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and four manufacturing industries, I examine how imports from OECD countries lead to productivity gains for domestic establishments through their knowledge absorption capabilities. I find that domestic firms with technology standards farther away from the international frontier benefit more from trade than those with technology...

The rate and magnitude of technological change is a critical component in estimating future anthropogenic carbon emissions. We present a methodology for modeling low-carbon emitting technologies within the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model, a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the world economy. The methodology translates bottom-up engineering information for ...

We study the impact of incentive pay, local development objectives and government constraints on university licensing performance. We develop and test a simple contracting model of technology licensing offices, using new survey information together with panel data on U.S. universities for 1995-99. We find that private universities are much more likely to adopt incentive pay than public ones, bu...

An innovation-diffusion model was developed with agent-based modelling (ABM); the model is used to study technical innovation and its diffusion process in China. The results are as follows: only a small fraction of firms conduct independent product-innovation, and most firms prefer imitation and/or purchases; most of the innovative firms are located in the East; approximately three or four tech...

Many international organizations, governments and academics concerned with economic development look to Asia’s success, recommending that other poor countries follow similar models and paths of development. This study argues that such Asian ‘lesson-making’ is a grave mistake in policy-thinking—and in the historical understanding of the nature and process of development. In identifying what we c...

Untangling Trade and Technology: Evidence from Local Labor Markets We juxtapose the effects of trade and technology on employment in U.S. local labor markets between 1990 and 2007. Labor markets whose initial industry composition exposes them to rising Chinese import competition experience significant falls in employment, particularly in manufacturing and among non-college workers. Labor market...

The present paper investigates relatedness and coherence with reference to both product and technological diversification. In particular, it is argued that: (i) relatedness can be disentangled into three dimensions: industry-, technologyand firm-specific; and that (ii) coherence refers to both product and technological diversification. We provide empirical support of our premises with a study o...