The Producer Price Index (PPI) for the United States suggests that semiconductor prices have barely been falling in recent years, a dramatic contrast to the rapid declines reported from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s. This slowdown in the rate of decline is puzzling in light of evidence that...

This paper examines three questions motivated by previous research on semiconductors and productivity growth: Why did semiconductor prices fall so rapidly in the second half of the 1990s, why has the rate of price decline slowed since 2001, and to what extent are these price swings associated...

Economists have long debated the best way to explain the sources of productivity growth. Neoclassical theory and 'new growth' theory both regard investment - broadly defined to include purchases of tangible assets, human capital expenditures, and research and development efforts - as a critical...