A Schumpeterian approach to the effects of trade reforms on technological accumulation: The case of the industrial sector in Argentina

ARZA, VALERIA

Tesis de Maestría (sin publicar) London School of Economics

Lugar: London; Año: 2001 p. 76

In the context of structural adjustment reforms, one of the leading pressures upon developing countries has been to liberalise and simplify their trade policies. A new orthodoxy in economic theory justified this switch in policies claiming that they would foster growth and efficiency. The impacts of trade liberalisation on technological development are particularly important because of their dynamic long-term effects on the economy. The aim of this research will be to investigate whether trade reforms have benefited or reduced technological accumulation in Argentina. The dissertation is divided into five major parts and a conclusion. The first part critically discusses the main theoretical arguments that relate trade liberalisation with efficiency and long-term growth. The second part analyses the sources and conditions for technological change in the light of the Schumpeterian literature, and frames the discussion in a development context. Part three links the former two parts in a Schumpeterian model on trade and technology. In part four we present the data and analyse descriptive findings on the effects of liberalisation. An econometric exercise characterises the technological model of the Argentinean industrial sector in the 1990s, in part five. In the conclusion, trade liberalisation arguments will be reviewed in the light of the empirical findings.