Is a biased technological change fueling dualism?

Analyses of structural transformations of modern developed economies have led in the second half of the 90s to two important debates. One bore on the skill bias nature of technological change, the other underlined the likely overestimation of consumer prices and therefore the underestimation of past rates of real economic growth, following misappreciations of changes in product quality. From the many factual and theoretical points made in these debates, one can select some major features of contemporary economic growth. On both the supply side (reoganisation of productive processes) and on the demand side (changes in consumer strategies) characteristics of the learning and adjustment processes to respond to the new environment appear. This working paper retains from these debates over the organisation of productive processes and the changes in product quality both the differences in behaviours and capabilities (among producers and consumers alike) and the interdependencies between supply and demand processes. Economic growth thus appears as largely conditioned by the capacity of economies to take advantage of these interdependencies while limiting the hampering effects of dualist trends.