Knowledge, growth without scale effects, and the product life cycle

Type :

Theses

Pages :

260 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

07/27/2006

Category :

Economics & finance

Sub category :

Economics

Oboulo.com selection criteria

$ 19.95 Add to cart

Summary :

Introduction
Growth and scale effects
1. Knowledge and scale effects in growth
2. Empirical evidence
3. Models of growth without scale effects
Knowledge, R and D and spillovers at the firm
1. Firm size and growth
2. R and D and pure knowledge spillovers
3. Knowledge, R and D, spillovers, increasing returns, and the firm
4. Diversification and firm performance
Growth without scale effects and structural change
1. A simple model
2. Growth, income, and demand
3. Structural change and deindustrialization
4. Discussion and conclusions
Measurement issues in the study of R and D based growth
1. TPF and the knowledge stock
2. Output, growth, the CPI, and well being
3. Discussion and conclusions
The product life cycle, demand
1. The life cycle
2. Demand and growth without scale effects
3. Discussion and conclusions
Concluding remarks
References

Abstract

For several reasons, knowledge cannot be treated like any other commodity. One of these reasons is the nonrivalrous nature of knowledge, which means that one person's use of certain knowledge does not diminish another person's use of the same knowledge (at the same time). This important property of knowledge is used in several early models of R&D-based growth1,

e.g. Romer (1990), Grossman and Helpman (1991), and Aghion and Howitt (1992). In these models this property leads to a scale effect, which boils down to larger economies growing faster than smaller economies (with the measure of size suitably defined (cf. Backus, Kehoe and Kehoe 1992)).
In an influential paper, Jones (1995a) pointed out that growth with scale effects, as predicted

by the early models of R&D-based growth, is inconsistent with empirical facts. Over the last

40 years the OECD countries have experienced a tremendous rise in the number of people involved in R&D activities whereas the growth rates of per-capita income have shown no corresponding increase. This is a puzzling observation and has led to new models of R&D- based growth that did not incorporate scale effects e.g. Jones (1995b), Smulders and van de Klundert (1995), Young (1998), Li (2000), and Peretto and Smulders (2002).
Generally, however, these models suffer from the 'Solow critique'; Solow (1994) criticizes

(some) growth theorists because they "... often just insert favorable assumptions in an unearned way; and then when they put in their thumb and pull out the vary plum they have inserted, there is a tendency to think that something has been proved." (p. 53). In the models
of growth without scale effects the prediction of a scale effects in growth of the early models

of R&D-based growth is removed by limiting the extent of the spillovers associated with knowledge's nonrivalrousness, but often the much-needed (micro-)economic foundation for
the crucial assumption in these models regarding the extent of knowledge spillovers - and the

mechanism limiting their extent - is lacking. Assuming that knowledge is rivalrous (not nonrivalrous) to limit spillovers and dispose of the scale effects prediction of the early models
of R&D-based growth simply does not shed much light on the issue of growth without scale effects however.

provide background information regarding, amongst others, work discussed in the main text, data used in figures, etc.