There has recently been a resurgence of interest in how institutions affect economic performance. A review of this literature reveals that the concept of an ‘institution’ means different things to different scholars, both within economics and across the social sciences. This paper discusses...

The conventional wisdom regarding the source of progress in medical practice highlights the role of basic scientific research into the nature of disease pathologies. This perspective neglects the important role of two other sources of progress in medicine. One is the advance of technologies that...

This book is a collection of original articles that view the current state of knowledge about the convergence hypothesis.

This handbook looks to provide academics and students with a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the phenomenon of innovation. Innovation spans a number of fields within the social sciences and humanities: Management, Economics, Geography, Sociology, Politics, Psychology, and History....

For most countries, economic development involves a process of 'catching up' with leading countries at the time. This is never achieved solely by physical assets and labour alone: also needed are the accumulation of technological capabilities, educational attainment, entrepreneurship, and the...

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In the past, the U.S. government has been involved in various programs to support technical progress. The record of such programs in seven industries offers important guidelines. The economist's usual presumption that government support for such activities should be concentrated on those cases...

This essay argues that market failure analysis provides an unsubstantial basis for assessing the kinds of things governments should be doing if they could do them well, and modern public choice theory an inadequate guide to obstacles to effective governmental action. The argument is supported by...