Growth theory can go a long way toward accounting for phenomena linked with U.S. economic development. Some examples are: (i) the secular decline in fertility between 1800 and 1980, (ii) the decline in agricultural employment and the rise in skill since 1800, (iii) the demise of child labor...

Modern economic growth started in the West in the early nineteenth century. This survey discusses the precise connection between the Industrial Revolution and the beginnings of growth, and connects it to the intellectual and economic factors underlying the growth of useful knowledge. The...

Environmental pollution is introduced both as a joint product and as a source of disutility in growth models. The purpose is to explore vital questions such as: is environmental protection compatible with economic growth; is it possible to have sustained growth in the long run without...

This chapter surveys the history of modern economic growth and suggests a number of mechanisms that drove the unprecedented technological thrust that account for the discontinuities of economic modernity. The Industrial Revolution and the subsequent developments did not just raise the level of...

This paper develops a two-country, dynamic general equilibrium model with innovation contests to study the impact of globalization on the skill premium and fully-endogenous growth. Higher quality products are endogenously discovered through stochastic and sequential global innovation contests in...