Briefing

Why Don't Low-Income Countries Adopt More Productive Technologies?

Abstract: Researchers at UCLA, the Richmond Fed and Washington University in St. Louis have developed a theory of economic development in which complementarity in firms' technology-adoption decisions can substantially amplify the negative impacts of distortions in the economy and play an important role in explaining income differences across countries. By integrating theories that separately emphasize the roles of coordination failures and distortions, their unified framework shows that reducing distortions within "big push" regions could unleash massive economic growth.

Keywords: Economic Growth and Fiscal Policy;

JEL Classification: A31;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Part of Series: Richmond Fed Economic Brief

Publication Date: 2021-04

Volume: 21

Issue: 11