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<P>May 18, 2007– Version 1.51<br>Per capita income in the richest countries of the world exceeds that in the<br>poorest countries by more than a factor of 50. What explains these enormous<br>differences? This paper returns to two old ideas in development economics and<br>proposes that complementarity and linkages are at the heart of the explanation.<br>First, just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, problems at any point in<br>a production chain can reduce output substantially if inputs enter production in<br>a complementary fashion. Second, linkages between rms through intermediate<br>goods deliver a multiplier similar to the one associated with capital accumulation<br>in a neoclassical growth model. Because the intermediate goods' share of revenue<br>is about 1/2, this multiplier is substantial. The paper builds a model with complementary<br>inputs and links across sectors and shows that it can easily generate<br>50-fold aggregate income differences.<br>*</P>

[此贴子已经被作者于2007-9-3 23:35:32编辑过]