Knowledge, lacking weight and other physical attributes and being intangible, is a hidden factor of production, making economies grow "weightless." But knowledge is also imbedded in technology. If, becaue of low productivity, poor countries keep buying low-technology machines, will they remain stuck in a low-technology, low-growth trap?

The importance of international technology diffusion (ITD) for economic development can hardly be overstated. Both the acquisition of technology and its diffusion foster productivity growth. Developing countries have long sought to use both national policies and international agreements to stimulate ITD. The 'correct' policy intervention, if any, depends critically upon the channels through which technology diffuses internationally and the quantitative effects of the various diffusion processes on efficiency and productivity growth. Neither is well understood. New technologies may be embodied in goods and transferred through imports of new varieties of differentiated products or capital goods and equipment, they may be obtained through exposure to foreign buyers or foreign investors or they may be acquired through arms-length trade in intellectual property, e.g., licensing contracts. 'Global Integration and Technology Transfer' uses cross-country and firm level panel data sets to analyze how specific activities exporting, importing, FDI, joint ventures impact on productivity performance.

Investigates the dynamics of manual and non-manual employment and wages in Italian manufacturing during the 1990s.