Technology And Capital Formation

The contributions in this book bring a wealth of detailed empirical data and an unusually wide range of perspectives - from universities, government, and business - to bear on the exploration of this important interrelationship; they focus, in particular, on the role of capital in the production process.

Most discussions of U.S. economic competitiveness focus on the creation of new technologies, but the abundant evidence presented in this timely book indicates that the key factor underpinning U.S. competitiveness is not the development of technology itself, but the factors that influence the commercialization of technology. The importance of effective management and performance in the commercialization of new technologies reflects today's changing environment. The post-war decades of undisputed U.S. scientific and technological hegemony have been replaced by a period in which U.S. firms are challenged by foreign competitors in some fields, and struggling to regain their former positions in others. Although the U.S. scientific research establishment arguably has lost little if any of its post-war preeminence, the same cannot be said with respect to the performance of U.S. firms as developers, adapters, and managers of new technologies, largely because government policies have not been conducive to successful commercialization of technology. As we enter the last decade of the twentieth century, economic policy and performance are being linked more and more closely to technology-related issues. Technology commercialization is now recognized as critical to this linkage, and this book constitutes a state-of-the-art analysis of this vital but often overlooked aspect of technological innovation. The sixteen papers in this volume contribute to three important tasks. First, they draw on new developments in theoretical and empirical analysis to integrate the macro-and microeconomic dimensions of technological innovation and commercialization. Second, they extend and enrich the macroeconomic analysis of growth, capital formation, and international economic interactions to highlight the influences of macroeconomic variables on technology commercialization. Technology and capital investment are shown to be complementary inputs to the growth process, which means that favorable investment conditions are prerequisites for higher growth rates. Third, they also extend and enrich the microeconomic analysis of technological innovation and commercialization, in the process providing guidance for managers seeking to improve performance in both of the areas.

The essays in this book explore the forces behind modern economic growth and, in particular, the causes of the extraordinary surge of growth since the Second World War. The introductory essay is an extended treatment of how economists now view the growth process and its causes. Other essays consider the contributions of capital formation, education, and the changed nature of industries and occupations. Professor Abramovitz asks why elevated incomes failed to bring the social progress and personal satisfaction that people had looked for. The final chapters in the book take up the causes of our discontent and consider whether the Welfare State has itself become an obstacle to further economic progress.The essays in this book explore the forces behind modern economic growth and, in particular, the causes of the extraordinary surge of growth since the Second World War. The introductory essay is an extended treatment of how economists now view the growth process and its causes. Other essays consider the contributions of capital formation, education, and the changed nature of industries and occupations. Professor Abramovitz asks why elevated incomes failed to bring the social progress and personal satisfaction that people had looked for. The final chapters in the book take up the causes of our discontent and consider whether the Welfare State has itself become an obstacle to further economic progress.

In this volume in the NBER series on capital formation and financing, the authors show, with supporting figures, two major trends in mining and manufacturing. The first is that this sector had a rate of growth significantly higher than that of the economy as a whole. The total capital assets of this sector increased fifteenfold from 1880 to 1948, while the total stock of all tangible wealth in the United States increased only about sixfold. The second trend is a marked diversity among industries in the rate of growth over the period and in the time pattern of that rate. The authors advance a number of explanatory hypotheses about the significance of their findings. Originally published in 1960. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.