Lipsey R.G., Carlaw K.I., Bekar C.T. Economic Transformations: General Purpose Technologies and Long-Term Economic Growth

Oxford: Oxford University Press. – 2005. – 617 p. While books on long-term growth have always been popular, the last few years have seen a great increase in their number. Readers may wonder if ours is simply another marginal addition to this fast-growing literature. We think not. First, we are interested in the phenomenon of general purpose technologies (GPTs) in themselves and we say much more about them, both descriptively and analytically, than is typical in books on growth. Second, in our work on growth we take up a broader set of themes and employ a larger array of analytical tools than is typical of most books on growth and technological change. While others concentrate on one or another of these techniques, we do not hesitate to use historical analysis, formal modeling, simulation techniques, what Richard Nelson calls appreciative theorizing, and aspects of evolutionary economics.List of BoxesGrowth, Technological Change, and General Purpose Technologies
Technology as Revolution
Two Views of Economic Processes
A Structuralist-Evolutionary Decomposition
Technology and Technological Change
A Survey of GPTs in Western History (Part A): 10,000 bc to ad 1450
A Survey of GPTs in Western History (Part B): 1450–2010 1The Transition to Sustained Economic Growth in the West
The Emergence of Sustained Extensive Growth in the West
Why Not Elsewhere?
Population Dynamics: Relation Between Extensive and Intensive Growth
The Emergence of Sustained Intensive Growth in the WestModeling Sustained Gpt-Driven Growth
GPTs and Related Concepts in the Literature
Scale Economies in Economic Growth
Appreciative Theories of GPTs
Formal Models of GPT-Driven Sustained Growth: The Baseline Model
Formal Models of GPT-Driven Sustained Growth: Extensions and ApplicationsPolicy
Technology Enhancement Policies: Theory and Evidence
Assessing Technology Enhancement Policies