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...

The purpose of this article is three-fold: first, it tests whether inter-industry R&D spillovers are positively associated with the likelihood experiencing high growth episodes among intensive firms in Europe, US and Japan; second, such a relationship conditional on their level absorptive capacity (ACAP); third, acquisition foreign patents, an additional channel to access external knowledge...

We study labor market returns to vocational versus general secondary education using a regression discontinuity design created by the centralized admissions process in Finland. Admission track increases initial annual income, and this benefit persists at least through mid-thirties, present discount value calculations suggest that it is unlikely life cycle will turn negative retirement. Moreover...

this paper, examines the factors that influence energy intensity- the ratio of energy consumption to gdp- in 42 oil exporting and none-oil exporting countries in the period 1985 to 2009. the research applies panel data models to analyze the impacts of oil price, gdp, exchange rate, co2 emissions, population, surface area and productivity on energy intensity. an attempt is made in this paper, to...

In skill-biased (de-skilling) technological revolutions learning investments required by new machines are greater (smaller) than those required by preexisting machines. Skill-biased (de-skilling) revolutions trigger reallocations of capital from slow(fast-) to fast(slow-) learning workers, thereby reducing the relative and absolute wages of the former. The model of skill-biased (de-skilling) re...

This paper investigates how high-speed home Internet has impacted married women’s labor force participation. I estimate the net effect of individual Internet usage on labor supply using an instrumental variables strategy which exploits cross-state variation in supply-side constraints to residential broadband Internet access. Results indicate that married women who use the Internet are more like...

Did nineteenth century technology reduce demand for skilled workers in contrast to modern technology? I obtain direct evidence on human capital investments and the returns to skill by using micro-data on individual weavers and an engineering production function. Weavers learned substantially on the job. While mechanization eliminated some tasks and the associated skills, it increased returns to...

We analyse the impact of ICT spillovers on productivity using company data for the U.S. We account for interand intra-industry spillovers and assess the role played by firm’s absorptive capacity. Our results show that intra-industry ICT spillovers have a contemporaneous negative effect that turns positive 5 years after the initial investment. For inter-industry spillovers both contemporaneous a...

We analyze recent contributions to growth theory based on the model of expanding variety of Romer (1990). In the first part, we present different versions of the benchmark linear model with imperfect competition. These include the “labequipment” model, “labor-for-intermediates” and “directed technical change”. We review applications of the expanding variety framework to the analysis of internat...

Rates of electronic information sharing and interoperability among hospitals remain low despite government investments exceeding $30 billion. Using a network economics framework, I show that low rates are driven by two factors. First, hospitals with weak market power avoid interoperability to keep patients from going elsewhere for care. Second, even if hospitals value interoperability, heteroge...