The Sources of Economic Growth or ActiveBook Excellence in Business Communication

The Sources of Economic Growth

Author: Richard R Nelson

Technological advance is the key driving force behind economic growth, argues Richard Nelson. Investments in physical and human capital contribute to growth largely as handmaidens to technological advance. Technological advance needs to be understood as an evolutionary process, depending much more on ex post selection and learning than on ex ante calculation. That is why it proceeds much more rapidly under conditions of competition than under monopoly or oligopoly.

Nelson also argues that an adequate theory of economic growth must incorporate institutional change explicitly. Drawing on a deep knowledge of economic and technological history as well as the tools of economic analysis, Nelson exposes the intimate connections among government policies, science-based universities, and the growth of technology. He compares national innovation systems, and explores both the rise of the United States as the world's premier technological power during the first two-thirds of the twentieth century and the diminishing of that lead as other countries have largely caught up.

Lucid, wide-ranging, and accessible, the book examines the secrets of economic growth and why the U.S. economy has been anemic since the early 1970s.

Table of Contents:

	Introduction	1
Pt. I	A Perspective on Economic Growth and Technical Advance	7
1	Research on Productivity Growth and Productivity Differences: Dead Ends and New Departures	9
2	Capitalism as an Engine of Progress	52
Pt. II	Schumpeterian Competition	85
3	Schumpeter and Contemporary Research on the Economics of Innovation	87
4	Why Do Firms Differ, and How Does It Matter?	100
5	On Limiting or Encouraging Rivalry in Technical Progress: The Effect of Patent-Scope Decisions	120
Pt. III	Science and Technical Advance	145
6	The Role of Knowledge in R&D Efficiency	147
7	The Link between Science and Invention: The Case of the Transistor	159
8	American Universities and Technical Advance in Industry	189
Pt. IV	International Differences and International Convergence	231
9	The Rise and Fall of American Technological Leadership: The Postwar Era in Historical Perspective	233
10	National Innovation Systems: A Retrospective on a Study	274
	Notes	303
	References	308

Book review: Guía de Campaña de Entendimiento de Error Humano

ActiveBook, Excellence in Business Communication

Author: John V Thill

This book offers users the tools they need to succeed in today's workplace by developing their essential communication skills. Three easy-to-follow steps (planning, writing, and completing business messages) offer learners a practical strategy for writing and delivering business messages. Abundant sample documents demonstrate how to apply the principles being discussed. This is the only book that offers business communication experience in every chapter through real-world “on-the-job” simulations featuring actual companies and real-world business documents. These simulations provide a unique opportunity to apply concepts to real events and to sharpen business communication problem-solving skills. A five-part organization covers the foundations of business communication; the three-step writing process; letters, memos, e-mail, and other brief messages; reports and oral presentations; and employment messages. For business professionals—at any level—seeking to improve their oral and written communication skills.