Creating a Learning Society: A New Approach to Growth, Development, and Social Progress

Joseph E. Stiglitz and Bruce C. Greenwald

eISBN: 9780231525541

2014 (680 pages 45 charts)

View the print version of this title.

Share

| More

Available PDF Downloads

Download Complete Book Download
(pages 1-677)
Complete Book Download (pages 1-677)

Download Front Matter
(pages 1-5)
Front Matter (pages 1-5)

Download Table of Contents
(pages 6-9)
Table of Contents (pages 6-9)

Download Preface
(pages 10-13)
Preface (pages 10-13)

Download Acknowledgments
(pages 14-17)
Acknowledgments (pages 14-17)

Download Introduction
(pages 18-27)
Introduction (pages 18-27)

Download Part 1: Creating a Learning Society: A New Paradigm for Development and Social Progress: Basic Concepts
(pages 28-29)
Part 1: Creating a Learning Society: A New Paradigm for Development and Social Progress: Basic Concepts (pages 28-29)

Download 1. The Learning Revolution
(pages 30-45)
1. The Learning Revolution (pages 30-45)

Download 2. On the Importance of Learning
(pages 46-63)
2. On the Importance of Learning (pages 46-63)

Download 3. A Learning Economy
(pages 64-104)
3. A Learning Economy (pages 64-104)

Download 4. Creating a Learning Firm and a Learning Environment
(pages 105-117)
4. Creating a Learning Firm and a Learning Environment (pages 105-117)

Download 5. Market Structure, Welfare, and Learning
(pages 118-147)
5. Market Structure, Welfare, and Learning (pages 118-147)

Download 6. The Welfare Economics of Schumpeterian Competition
(pages 148-279)
6. The Welfare Economics of Schumpeterian Competition (pages 148-279)

Download Part 2: Analytics
(pages 280-281)
Part 2: Analytics (pages 280-281)

Download 7. Learning in a Closed Economy—the Basic Model
(pages 282-302)
7. Learning in a Closed Economy—the Basic Model (pages 282-302)

Download 8. A Two-Period, N-Good Model with Endogenous Labor Supply
(pages 303-326)
8. A Two-Period, N-Good Model with Endogenous Labor Supply (pages 303-326)

Download 9. Learning with Monopolistic Competition
(pages 327-335)
9. Learning with Monopolistic Competition (pages 327-335)

Download 10. Long-Term Growth and Innovation
(pages 336-347)
10. Long-Term Growth and Innovation (pages 336-347)

Download 11. The Infant-Economy Argument for Protection: Trade Policy in a Learning Environment
(pages 348-383)
11. The Infant-Economy Argument for Protection: Trade Policy in a Learning Environment (pages 348-383)

Download Part 3: Policies for a Learning Society
(pages 384-385)
Part 3: Policies for a Learning Society (pages 384-385)

Download 12. The Role of Industrial and Trade Policy in Creating a Learning Society
(pages 386-417)
12. The Role of Industrial and Trade Policy in Creating a Learning Society (pages 386-417)

Download 13. Financial Policy and Creating a Learning Society
(pages 418-430)
13. Financial Policy and Creating a Learning Society (pages 418-430)

Download 14. Macroeconomic and Investment Policies for a Learning Society
(pages 431-445)
14. Macroeconomic and Investment Policies for a Learning Society (pages 431-445)

Download 15. Intellectual Property
(pages 446-473)
15. Intellectual Property (pages 446-473)

Download 16. Social Transformation and the Creation of a Learning Society
(pages 474-489)
16. Social Transformation and the Creation of a Learning Society (pages 474-489)

Download 17. Concluding Remarks
(pages 490-499)
17. Concluding Remarks (pages 490-499)

Download Part 4: Commentary and Afterword
(pages 500-501)
Part 4: Commentary and Afterword (pages 500-501)

Download 18. Introductory Remarks for the First Annual Arrow Lecture, by Michael Woodford
(pages 502-504)
18. Introductory Remarks for the First Annual Arrow Lecture, by Michael Woodford (pages 502-504)

Download 19. Further Considerations, by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Bruce C. Greenwald
(pages 505-508)
19. Further Considerations, by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Bruce C. Greenwald (pages 505-508)

Download 20. Commentary: The Case for Industrial Policy, by Philippe Aghion
(pages 509-515)
20. Commentary: The Case for Industrial Policy, by Philippe Aghion (pages 509-515)

Download 21. Commentary, by Robert Solow
(pages 516-520)
21. Commentary, by Robert Solow (pages 516-520)

Download 22. Commentary, by Kenneth Arrow
(pages 521-525)
22. Commentary, by Kenneth Arrow (pages 521-525)

Download Afterword: Rethinking Industrial Policy, by Philippe Aghion
(pages 526-539)
Afterword: Rethinking Industrial Policy, by Philippe Aghion (pages 526-539)

Download Notes
(pages 540-603)
Notes (pages 540-603)

Download References
(pages 604-641)
References (pages 604-641)

Download Notes on Contributors
(pages 642-645)
Notes on Contributors (pages 642-645)

Download Index
(pages 646-677)
Index (pages 646-677)

Creating a Learning Society: A New Approach to Growth, Development, and Social Progress

It has long been recognized that an improved standard of living results from advances in technology, not from the accumulation of capital. It has also become clear that what truly separates developed from less-developed countries is not just a gap in resources or output but a gap in knowledge. In fact, the pace at which developing countries grow is largely a function of the pace at which they close that gap.

Thus, to understand how countries grow and develop, it is essential to know how they learn and become more productive and what government can do to promote learning. In Creating a Learning Society, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Bruce C. Greenwald cast light on the significance of this insight for economic theory and policy. Taking as a starting point Kenneth J. Arrow’s 1962 paper “Learning by Doing,” they explain why the production of knowledge differs from that of other goods and why market economies alone typically do not produce and transmit knowledge efficiently. Closing knowledge gaps and helping laggards learn are central to growth and development. But creating a learning society is equally crucial if we are to sustain improved living standards in advanced countries.

Combining accessible prose with technical economic analysis, Stiglitz and Greenwald provide new models of “endogenous growth,” up-ending the thinking about both domestic and global policy and trade regimes. They show how well-designed government trade and industrial policies can help create a learning society, and how poorly designed intellectual property regimes can retard learning. They also explain how virtually every government policy has effects, both positive and negative, on learning, a fact that policymakers must recognize. They demonstrate why many standard policy prescriptions, especially those associated with “neoliberal” doctrines focusing on static resource allocations, have impeded learning. Among the provocative implications are that free trade may lead to stagnation whereas broad-based industrial protection and exchange rate interventions may bring benefits—not just to the industrial sector, but to the entire economy.

The volume concludes with brief commentaries from Philippe Aghion and Michael Woodford, as well as from Nobel Laureates Kenneth J. Arrow and Robert M. Solow.

See below for our purchase options for this e-book. Individual chapters with a BUY button can be purchased for only $5, and any chapter with a FREE button can be downloaded or viewed online at any time.

Table of Contents

Creating a Learning Society: A New Approach to Growth, Development, and Social Progress

Author(s): Stiglitz, Joseph E.; Greenwald, Bruce C.
Abstract:

It has long been recognized that an improved standard of living results from advances in technology, not from the accumulation of capital. It has also become clear that what truly separates developed from less-developed countries is not just a gap in resources or output but a gap in knowledge. In fact, the pace at which developing countries grow is largely a function of the pace at which they close that gap.

Thus, to understand how countries grow and develop, it is essential to know how they learn and become more productive and what government can do to promote learning. In Creating a Learning Society, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Bruce C. Greenwald cast light on the significance of this insight for economic theory and policy. Taking as a starting point Kenneth J. Arrow’s 1962 paper “Learning by Doing,” they explain why the production of knowledge differs from that of other goods and why market economies alone typically do not produce and transmit knowledge efficiently. Closing knowledge gaps and helping laggards learn are central to growth and development. But creating a learning society is equally crucial if we are to sustain improved living standards in advanced countries.

Combining accessible prose with technical economic analysis, Stiglitz and Greenwald provide new models of “endogenous growth,” up-ending the thinking about both domestic and global policy and trade regimes. They show how well-designed government trade and industrial policies can help create a learning society, and how poorly designed intellectual property regimes can retard learning. They also explain how virtually every government policy has effects, both positive and negative, on learning, a fact that policymakers must recognize. They demonstrate why many standard policy prescriptions, especially those associated with “neoliberal” doctrines focusing on static resource allocations, have impeded learning. Among the provocative implications are that free trade may lead to stagnation whereas broad-based industrial protection and exchange rate interventions may bring benefits—not just to the industrial sector, but to the entire economy.

The volume concludes with brief commentaries from Philippe Aghion and Michael Woodford, as well as from Nobel Laureates Kenneth J. Arrow and Robert M. Solow.