Technology Adoption and Factor Proportions in Open Economies : Theory and Evidence from the Global Computer Industry
Theories of international trade assume that all countries use similar and exogenous technologies in the production of any good. This paper relaxes this assumption. The marriage of literatures on biased technical change and trade yields a tractable...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090909090956 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4236 |
| Summary: | Theories of international trade assume
that all countries use similar and exogenous technologies in
the production of any good. This paper relaxes this
assumption. The marriage of literatures on biased technical
change and trade yields a tractable theory, which predicts
that differences in factor endowments and intellectual
property rights bias technical change toward particular
factor intensities, and thus unit factor input requirements
can vary across economies. Using data on net exports of a
single industry, computers, intellectual property rights and
factor endowments for 73 countries during 1980-2000, the
paper shows that once technological choices are considered,
countries with different factor endowments can become net
exporters of the same product. |
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