Events at CERGE-EI
Friday, 7 December, 2012 | 15:00 | Macro Research Seminar
Dr. Martí Mestieri: “If Technology Has Arrived Everywhere, Why Has Income Diverged?”
Toulouse School of Economics, France
Authors: Diego Comin and Martí Mestieri
Abstract: We study the dynamics of the lags with which new technologies are adopted over the last two centuries, and how intensively new technologies are demanded once they are adopted. We document two new facts: there has been convergence in adoption lags between rich and poor countries, while there has been divergence in the intensive margin of adoption. Using a model of adoption and growth, we show that these changes in the pattern of technology diffusion account for at least two thirds of the Great Income Divergence between rich and poor countries since 1800.
Full Text: “If Technology Has Arrived Everywhere, Why Has Income Diverged?”
