Because of their more limited inequality and more comprehensive social welfare systems, many perceive average welfare to be higher in Scandinavian societies than in the United States. Why then does the United States not adopt Scandinavian-style institutions? More generally, in an interdependent...

This paper is an exercise in comparative institutional analysis, asking what kinds of arrangements most facilitate innovation. After identifying pervasive market failures in innovation, it explains why those associated with the Nordic model may be particularly conducive to innovation, and...

It concludes by constructing a simple model in which knowledge flows slowly across national borders but moves easily within borders. We show there is a leadership-followership equilibrium, in which some countries are leaders, others are followers. Contrary to Solow's analysis, there need not be...