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TECHNOLOGICAL SOURCES OF PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN GERMANY, JAPAN, AND THE UNITED STATES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2010

Jesús Rodríguez-López  and
José L. Torres
Jesús Rodríguez-López*
Affiliation:
Universidad Pablo de Olavide
José L. Torres
Affiliation:
Universidad de Málaga
*
Address correspondence to: Jesús Rodríguez-López, Department of Economics, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Ctra Utrera, 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain; e-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

In this paper we use a dynamic general equilibrium growth model to quantify the contribution to productivity growth from different technological sources in the three leading economies of the world: Germany, Japan, and the United States. The sources of technology are classified into neutral progress and investment-specific progress. The latter can be split into two different types of equipment: information and communication technologies (ICT) and non-ICT equipment. We find that in the long run, neutral technological change is the main source of productivity growth in Germany and Japan. For the United States, the main source of productivity growth arises from investment-specific technological change, mainly associated with ICT. We also find that a non-negligible part of productivity growth in the three countries has been due to the technology specific to non-ICT equipment.

Keywords

Productivity GrowthInvestment-Specific ProgressNeutral ProgressInformation and Communication Technology
Type
Articles
Information
Macroeconomic Dynamics , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 133 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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