TY  - JOUR
AU  - Barro,Robert J.
AU  - Sala-i-Martin,Xavier
TI  - Technological Diffusion, Convergence, and Growth
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5151
PY  - 1995
Y2  - June 1995
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5151
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5151.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Robert J. Barro
Department of Economics
Littauer Center 218
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-3203
Fax: 617/496-8629
E-Mail: rbarro@harvard.edu

Xavier Sala-i-Martin
Department of Economics
Columbia University
420 West 118th Street, 1005
New York, NY 10027
Tel: 212/854-7055
Fax: 212/854-8059
E-Mail: xs23@columbia.edu
AB  - We construct a model that combines elements of endogenous growth with the convergence implications of the neoclassical growth model. In the long run, the world growth rate is driven by discoveries in the technologically leading economies.  Followers converge toward the leaders because copying is cheaper than innovation over some range.  A tendency for copying costs to increase reduces followers' growth rate and thereby generates a pattern of conditional convergence.  We discuss how countries are selected to be technological leaders, and we assess welfare implications.  Poorly defined intellectual property rights imply that leaders have insufficient incentive to invent and followers have excessive incentive to copy.
ER  -