High-tech exports and economic growth in industrialized countries

The present article provides new evidence on the impact of the change in the high-tech export share on economic growth in OECD countries. We estimate a dynamic growth model on panel data for 22 OECD countries for 1980-2004, in which the data is measured as 5-year averages. Using the system GMM panel estimator, which corrects for simultaneity, we find that both business R&D intensity and the share of high-tech exports are significantly positively related to the GDP per working age population. The estimated elasticities are rather sizable but the magnitude suggests that business R&D intensity is more important than the share of high-tech exports in explaining GDP per working age population.