TY  - JOUR
AU  - Helpman,Elhanan
AU  - Trajtenberg,Manuel
TI  - Diffusion of General Purpose Technologies
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5773
PY  - 1996
Y2  - September 1996
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5773
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5773.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Elhanan Helpman
Department of Economics
Harvard University
1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617-495-4690
Fax: 617-495-7730
E-Mail: ehelpman@harvard.edu

Manuel Trajtenberg
Eitan Berglas School of Economics
Tel-Aviv University
Tel-Aviv 69978
ISRAEL
Tel: 972-3-640-9911
Fax: 972-3-640-9908
E-Mail: manuel@post.tau.ac.il
AB  - History and theory alike suggest that General Purpose Technologies (GPT's), such as the steam engine or electricity, may play a key role in economic growth.  In a previous paper (Helpman and Trajtenberg, 1994) we incorporated this notion into a Grossman-Helpman growth model, and explored the economy-wide dynamics that a GPT generates.  The present paper deals with the diffusion of the GPT over heterogeneous final-good sectors.  We show that the gradual adoption of the GPT by each user sector generates a sequence of two-phased cycles, culminating in a bringing about a spell of sustained growth.  We also analyze the welfare implications of the order of adoption, by way of numerical simulations.  As a diffusion of the transistor (the first embodiment of semiconductors, the dominant GPT of our era), and seek to characterize both the early adopters and the laggards in terms of the parameters of the model.
ER  -