Technological Progress, Structural Change and Productivity Growth: A Comparative Study

The relationship between the economic structure of a country and its productivity growth has received a lot of attention in recent decades. For instance, several theoretical models in this area now suggest that countries that specialize in technologically progressive industries will enjoy high rates of growth compared to other countries. This paper focuses on the impact of specialization and structural changes on productivity growth in manufacturing in recent decades, using a sample of 39 countries and 24 industries between 1973 and 1990. The results show that while structural change on average has not been conducive to productivity growth, countries that have managed to increase their presence in the technologically most progressive industry of this period (electronics), have experienced higher productivity growth than other countries.