If Technology Has Arrived Everywhere, Why Has Income Diverged?

Diego Comin and Martí Mestieri

American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2018, vol. 10, issue 3, 137-78

Abstract: We study the cross-country evolution of technology diffusion over the last two centuries. We document that adoption lags between poor and rich countries have converged, while the intensity of use of adopted technologies of poor countries relative to rich countries has diverged. The evolution of aggregate productivity implied by these trends in technology diffusion resembles the actual evolution of the world income distribution in the last two centuries. Cross-country differences in adoption lags account for a significant part of the cross-country income divergence in the nineteenth century. The divergence in intensity of use accounts for the divergence during the twentieth century.

JEL-codes: N10 N70 O14 O33 O41 O47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.20150175
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (79)

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Related works:
Working Paper: If Technology Has Arrived Everywhere, Why Has Income Diverged? (2013)
Working Paper: If Technology Has Arrived Everywhere, Why has Income Diverged? (2013)
Working Paper: If Technology Has Arrived Everywhere, Why Has Income Diverged? (2013)
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