SOME INTERESTING PAPERS

While surfing the net, preparing a new highlight for the ICT for Development page of the Development Gateway Portal, I came across these:

Economic Fundamentals of the Knowledge Society
Abstract: “This article provides an introduction to fundamental issues in the development of new knowledge-based economies. After placing their emergence in historical perspective and proposing a theoretical framework that distinguishes knowledge from information, the authors characterize the specific nature of such economies. They go on to deal with some of the major issues concerning the new skills and abilities required for integration into the knowledge-based economy; the new geography that is taking shape (where physical distance ceases to be such an influential constraint); the conditions governing access to both information and knowledge, not least for developing countries; the uneven development of scientific, technological (including organizational) knowledge across different sectors of activity; problems concerning intellectual property rights and the privatization of knowledge; and the issues of trust, memory and the fragmentation of knowledge.” By Paul A. David and Dominique Foray, December 2001- Revised February 2002. (PDF, 24 pages.)

General Purpose Technologies and Surges in Productivity: Historical Reflections on the Future of the ICT Revolution
Opening paragraph: “In this essay we reflect on the relevance of early twentieth century experience for understanding the more general phenomenon of recurring prolonged swings in the TFP growth rate in advanced industrial economies. Our discussion builds upon our recent re-examination of the marked acceleration of the pace of total factor productivity growth that occurred in U.S. manufacturing following World War I (David and Wright 1999). After a ‘productivity pause’ of some three decades, during which gross manufacturing output grew at less than one percent per annum relative to inputs of capital and labor, TFP in this sector expanded at more than five percent per annum between 1919 and 1929. This remarkable discontinuity has often been overlooked by modern productivity analysts and economic historians alike; yet it contributed substantially to the absolute and relative rise of the US domestic economy’s TFP residual, and in many respects launched the high-growth era that persisted into the 1970s. By Paul A. David and Gavin Wright, July, 1999. (PDF, 27 pages.)

The Solow Paradox
By Sam Vaknin, 29 July 1999, Central Europe Review

Robert J. Gordon’s website
With many relevant papers.

Growth is Good for the Poor
by David Dollar and Aart Kraay

Human Development Report 2001: Making new technologies work for human development