The Implications of Technology Networks on Diffusion and Economic Growth

• Main Author: LEUNG, Hing-Man
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2002
• Subjects: network; diffusion; growth; IT; new economy; Economics; Growth and Development; Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/696; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soe_research/article/1695/viewcontent/Networked_Diffusion.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

After the record-breaking run of high-speed growth in the United States during the late 1990s, a pressing question is Has anything fundamental changed in our growth engine? This paper examines an IT-led endogenous growth model driven by technology diffusion. Diffusion is in turn driven by network effect embodied in new technologies. The equilibrium long-term growth rate is however found to be independent of such technology networks. A novelty in our model is that innovation is discontinuous and it is separated by periods of diffusion. This (IT) network-diffusion is shown to be Sigmoid, and diffusion speed is slower than socially optimal.