We describe a methodology to infer the extent of international technology diffusion and to decompose the sources of growth by nation. We compare the results from alternative implementation: of this methodology. A major finding is that the extent of international diffusion is substantial, with...

Global trade fell 30 percent relative to GDP during the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Did this collapse result from factors impeding international transactions or did it simply reflect the greater severity of the recession in highly traded sectors? We answer this question with detailed...

We model the invention of new technologies and their diffusion across countries. In our model all countries grow at the same steady-state rate, with each country's productivity ranking determined by how rapidly it adopts ideas. Research effort is determined by how much ideas earn at home and...

We develop a Ricardian trade model that incorporates realistic geographic features into general equilibrium. It delivers simple structural equations for bilateral trade with parameters relating to absolute advantage, to comparative advantage (promoting trade), and to geographic barriers...

This paper uses a 42-country model of production and trade to assess the implications of eliminating current account imbalances for relative wages, relative GDPs, real wages, and real absorption. How much relative GDPs need to change depends on flexibility of two forms: factor mobility and...

We incorporate trade imbalances into a quantitative model of bilateral trade in manufactures, dividing the world into forty "countries." We calculate the pattern of bilateral trade and relative factor costs in a counterfactual world with all current accounts balancing. Our results indicate that...