Knowledge Diffusion, Trade and Innovation Across Countries and Sectors

Abstract

We provide a unified framework for quantifying the cross country and cross-sector interactions among trade, innovation, and knowledge diffusion. We study the effect of trade liberalization in a multi-country, multi-sector endogenous growth model in which comparative advantage and the stock of knowledge are determined by innovation and diffusion. A reduction in trade costs induces a re-allocation of comparative advantage in production and innovation across sectors, which translates into higher growth along the counterfactual balanced growth path (BGP). Heterogeneous knowledge diffusion across country-sectors amplifies the specialization effects of trade-induced R&D re-allocation, becoming an additional source of growth and welfare.

Keywords: Knowledge spillovers, R&D, international trade, sectoral linkages

JEL Classification: F12, O33, O41, O47