Book contents
- The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World
- The Cambridge Economic Historyof the Modern World
- The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I Regional Developments
- Part II Factors Governing Differential Outcomes in the Global Economy
- 12 Healthy, Literate, and Smart
- 13 Proximate Sources of Growth
- 14 Underlying Sources of Growth
- 15 Underlying Sources of Growth
- 16 Living Standards, Inequality, and Human Development
- 17 Trade and Immigration
- 18 International Finance
- 19 War and Empire
- Index
- References
13 - Proximate Sources of Growth
Capital and Technology
from Part II - Factors Governing Differential Outcomes in the Global Economy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 June 2021
Book contents
- The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World
- The Cambridge Economic Historyof the Modern World
- The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I Regional Developments
- Part II Factors Governing Differential Outcomes in the Global Economy
- 12 Healthy, Literate, and Smart
- 13 Proximate Sources of Growth
- 14 Underlying Sources of Growth
- 15 Underlying Sources of Growth
- 16 Living Standards, Inequality, and Human Development
- 17 Trade and Immigration
- 18 International Finance
- 19 War and Empire
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter outlines how the development, diffusion and adoption of new technologies have shaped economic growth. Several major technological phases are identified, which differ from periods distinguished by global wars or major changes in growth patterns. Before 1940, large-scale industrialization and new technologies originated in the United States, diffusing to western European countries. Outside the Western core different development strategies were deployed. Only after 1940, countries in western Europe largely caught up to American productivity levels. The combination of technology diffusion and export-led growth in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and, more recently, China and India have enabled significant growth in living standards. The changes in cross-country income-level inequality have also had their within-country counterparts. The more recent period of IT-enabled growth primarily benefited high-skilled workers in Europe and the US, while low- and middle-skilled workers not only met competition from machines, but also from workers in low-wage countries.
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- The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World , pp. 356 - 381Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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