We examine the dynamics of ideas production and knowledge-productivity relationship in a panel of 19 OECD countries. A new data set of triadic patents is used. We rigorously address the issues of cross-country heterogeneity and endogeneity. Domestic and foreign ideas stocks exert positive but...

In this paper, we assemble data from several household surveys to document how pension coverage of young and prime-aged workers has evolved in Canada between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. We show that between 1986 and 1997 pension coverage has fallen significantly for men, has dropped...

We study international technology transfer through R&D spillovers in sixteen countries' manufacturing industries since the early 1970s. The analysis shows that the productivity impact of international technology transfer often exceeds that of domestic technological change, more so in...

The standard argument says that in the presence of positive spillovers foreign direct investment should be promoted and subsidized. In contrast, this paper claims that the very existence of spillovers may require temporarily restricting FDI. Our argument is based on two features of spillovers:...

There is a large literature on the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on productivity through inter-industry economic linkages. This paper contributes to the literature by focusing on the developed economy of Canada. It finds that FDI generates strong effects on total factor productivity...

This paper asks whether innovation has slowed in recent decades. While there has been dramatic progress in information and communications technology, the recent record of innovation in the crucially important agriculture, energy, transportation, and health care sectors is cause for concern. The...

This paper analyzes whether complexity, measured by the number of skilled tasks that are performed in production, explains countries commodity trade structure. We modify the Romalis (<link/>) model to incorporate advantage differences in complexity across commodities together with differences in the...

Contrary to the prevailing interpretation, this paper shows that the central models of trade with heterogeneous firms (<link>Melitz 2003</link>; <link>Bernard et al. 2003</link>) exhibit ambiguous predictions for the exporter productivity premium. This prospect arises because of differences between theoretical and...

In this paper, we offer an explanation why globalization (falling trade costs) may increase the government incentive to block foreign takeover of domestic firms and increase its incentive to allow mergers among national firms. This creation of `national champions' occurs not only because the...

This study analyzes the impact of opening up markets on the diffusion of flexible manufacturing in a general equilibrium framework. With flexible manufacturing, suppliers can service a range of downstream industries and do not have to be concerned about being held up. Instead, the vertical...