Free Access
Issue |
E.J.E.S.S.
Volume 14, Number 3, 2000
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Page(s) | 209 - 228 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/ejess:2000118 |
DOI: 10.1051/ejess:2000118
European Journal of Economic and Social Systems 14 N 3 (2000) pp. 209-228
The productivity paradox and the diffusion of generic technologies
Sandrine Paillard
Commissariat Général du Plan, 18 rue de Martignac, 75700 Paris 07 SP, France
Abstract:
The productivity paradox poses the problem of the coexistence, since
the seventies, of a slowing down of productivity gains and an acceleration of
technical progress, in particular in the field of information technologies (IT).
The existence of delays between the arrival of a new technology and the realisation
of productivity gains constitutes one explanation of the paradox. In this article,
we present a simulation model which illustrates the relations between the diffusion
of a generic technology and the dynamics of the productivity gains at the macroeconomic
level. In this model, the diffusion of a new generic technology is a process marked by
positive feedback; any obstacle to the diffusion also hinders the pace of learning which,
in turn, slows down the process of diffusion. A low rate of the diffusion of the knowledge
among the sectors of the economy slows the diffusion down. In a similar way, the
heterogeneity of the stock of capital and the problems of technological
compatibility resulting from it make the full potential of the new
technology more difficult to obtain.
Keywords:
Productivity paradox, information technologies, generic technologies,
technological learning
Correspondence and reprints: Sandrine Paillard
E-mail: spaillard@plan.gour.fr
Copyright EDP Sciences 2000