This paper presents an overview and assessment of the theoretical and empirical work on catch-up and growth, with particular emphasis on the impact of technology, and the consequences for developing countries. The point of departure is the neoclassical theory of economic growth, as laid out by...

High-tech is a commonly used catch-word for industries that use a relatively large share of their resources on R&D and develop many new products and processes. It is a widely held view that high- tech is good for growth, and that countries that succeed in high- tech industry perform well....

It is a well established fact that a number of East Asian countries have had much faster economic growth than most other countries for several decades. Many observers have held that this growth success is related to the interventionist policy stance that has characterised many of these...

This paper discusses the impact of economic integration on production and trade in high-tech goods. The theoretical evidence is considered in section 2. The remaining part of the paper presents an empirical analysis of this relationship for two groups of countries, the Nordic countries and the...

Michael Porter's book "The Competitive Advantage of Nations" (1990) has led to increasing attention on the favourable impact that "advanced domestic users" may have on competitiveness. This paper presents a critical appraisal of the theoretical and empirical evidence on this relationship. An...

During the 1950s and 1960s, a coherent system of economic policies was implemented in Norway. The article analyses the origins and functioning of this Norwegian model and shows how it broke down under the influence of both external and internal pressures from the mid-1970s onwards. By the early...

There has always been a strand of thought that has emphasized learning as a potential source of comparative advantage. This tradition points to the learning creating effects that relations between firms or sectors within the domestic economy may have, and the impact of this on the development of...

This paper discusses the impact of the completion of the EC internal market on the competitive position of EFTA firms (and, hence, also on economic growth in EFTA countries). The discussion falls in three parts. First, the process of European economic integration in the last decades - as...

Most analyses of international differences in productivity growth present data for OECD countries only. Although defendable from a data-quality point of view, this implies that some important industrial countries that have grown fast in recent years are excluded from the analysis. To avoid this...

This paper develops and tests a model of differing trends in international competitiveness and economic growth across countries. The model relates the development of market shares at home and abroad to three sets of factors: the ability to compete in technology, the ability to compete in...