Intermediate Goods and Weak Links in the Theory of Economic Development

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jones, Charles I.
• 署名单位: Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MACROECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7707
• DOI: 10.1257/mac.3.2.1
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 1-28
• 关键词: Optimal taxation; GROWTH; TECHNOLOGY; income; COSTS; PRODUCTIVITY; linkages; POLICY; output; input

摘要

What explains the enormous differences in incomes across countries? This paper returns to two old ideas: linkages and complementarity. First, linkages between firms through intermediate goods deliver a multiplier similar to the one associated with capital in a neoclassical growth model. Because the intermediate goods share of output is about one-half, this multiplier is substantial. Second, just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, problems along a production chain can sharply reduce output under complementarity. These forces considerably amplify distortions to the allocation of resources, bringing us closer to understanding large income differences across countries.(JEL: D57, E23, O1O, O47)