Increasing Returns and Long-Run Growth

1986 Journal of Political Economy 19,485 citations

Abstract

This paper presents a fully specified model of long-run growth in which knowledge is assumed to be an input in production that has increasing marginal productivity. It is essentially a competitive equilibrium model with endogenous technological change. In contrast to models based on diminishing returns, growth rates can be increasing over time, the effects of small disturbances can be amplified by the actions of private agents, and large countries may always grow faster than small countries. Long-run evidence is offered in support of the empirical relevance of these possibilities.

Keywords

EconomicsEconometrics

Related Publications

Convergence

A key economic issue is whether poor countries or regions tend to grow faster than rich ones: are there automatic forces that lead to convergence over time in the levels of per ...

1992 Journal of Political Economy 3887 citations

R & D-Based Models of Economic Growth

This paper argues that the 'scale effects' prediction of many recent R&D-based models of growth is inconsistent with the time-series evidence from industrialized economies. ...

1995 Journal of Political Economy 2987 citations

Endogenous Growth Theory

Endogenous growth theory explains long-run growth as emanating from economic activities that create new technological knowledge. This article sketches the outlines of the theory...

2018 The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics 2815 citations

Publication Info

Year
1986
Type
article
Volume
94
Issue
5
Pages
1002-1037
Citations
19485
Access
Closed

External Links

Social Impact

Altmetric

Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions

Citation Metrics

19485
OpenAlex

Cite This

Paul Romer (1986). Increasing Returns and Long-Run Growth. Journal of Political Economy , 94 (5) , 1002-1037. https://doi.org/10.1086/261420

Identifiers

DOI
10.1086/261420