This paper studies the effects of the diffusion of a General Purpose Technology (GPT), that spreads first within the developed country of its origin (North), and then to a developing country (South). We use a general equilibrium model of growth, where each final good is produced by one of two...

The paper focuses on tax competition and international migration in R&D sectors as agglomeration forces and trade restrictions are present. Core countries in economically integrating regions adapt tax rates to keep their industrial status quo. Unlike the often discussed “race to the bottom”...

Is it possible that the utility maximizing behavior leads the mankind to destruction? We develop a model with optimal pollution and optimal population in which population growth rate decreases along with pollution. We study if the optimal path is demographically sustainable, i.e. if it can...

In this model of North and South economies, growth is driven by Schumpeterian R&D and by accumulation of two types of human capital, versatile and specialized. The former is school intensive while the latter is on-the-job-training intensive. Growth is endogenous and independent of scale effects....

We simulate a two period olg-model with heterogeneous agents. Parents receive utility from quantity and quality of their offspring. Generating a trade-off between the former and the latter, an increasing wage rate leads to higher opportunity costs, lower fertility, and higher quality of the...

The ratio of retirees to workers in developed countries is expected to increase sharply in the next few decades. In the presence of unfunded income support policies, this increase in old age dependency is expected to increase the future fiscal burden which is seen as a threat to living...