IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cfl/wpaper/2023-02ua.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Technology diffusion and international business cycles

Author

Listed:
  • Uluc Aysun

    (University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL)

Abstract

This paper shows that the cross-country diffusion of innovations forms a critical channel through which macroeconomic shocks are transmitted across economies. This inference is obtained from a two country, medium scale DSGE model that includes an endogenous growth mechanism. R&D activity and innovation are the main components of this mechanism and they are introduced through a labor-augmenting technology. The model features international diffusion of technologies as the innovations by a firm are not only adopted by other firms within a country but also by those in the other country. Estimating the model with US and Euro Area data, I observe that foreign shocks contribute a high share to the macroeconomic volatility in each economy. By contrast, foreign shocks make a negligible contribution when the model is estimated after shutting down technology diffusion. The results, more generally, show that it is not technology shocks, nor any other shock, but the transmission of shocks through the diffusion of new technologies that is the key driver of international business cycles.

Suggested Citation

  • Uluc Aysun, 2023. "Technology diffusion and international business cycles," Working Papers 2023-02, University of Central Florida, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:cfl:wpaper:2023-02ua
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://economics.itweb.ucf.edu/workingpapers/2023-02UA.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Heathcote & Fabrizio Perri & Giovanni L. Violante, 2010. "Unequal We Stand: An Empirical Analysis of Economic Inequality in the United States: 1967-2006," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 15-51, January.
    2. Maurice Obstfeld & Kenneth Rogoff, 2001. "The Six Major Puzzles in International Macroeconomics: Is There a Common Cause?," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2000, Volume 15, pages 339-412, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. John G. Fernald, 2015. "Productivity and Potential Output before, during, and after the Great Recession," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 1-51.
    4. Bianchi, Francesco & Kung, Howard & Morales, Gonzalo, 2019. "Growth, slowdowns, and recoveries," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 47-63.
    5. Backus, David K & Kehoe, Patrick J & Kydland, Finn E, 1992. "International Real Business Cycles," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 745-775, August.
    6. Florin O. Bilbiie & Fabio Ghironi & Marc J. Melitz, 2012. "Endogenous Entry, Product Variety, and Business Cycles," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(2), pages 304-345.
    7. Jordi Gali, 1999. "Technology, Employment, and the Business Cycle: Do Technology Shocks Explain Aggregate Fluctuations?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 249-271, March.
    8. Frank Smets & Rafael Wouters, 2007. "Shocks and Frictions in US Business Cycles: A Bayesian DSGE Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(3), pages 586-606, June.
    9. DiMasi, Joseph A. & Grabowski, Henry G. & Hansen, Ronald W., 2016. "Innovation in the pharmaceutical industry: New estimates of R&D costs," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 20-33.
    10. Schmitt-Grohe, Stephanie, 1998. "The international transmission of economic fluctuations:: Effects of U.S. business cycles on the Canadian economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 257-287, April.
    11. Florin O. Bilbiie & Fabio Ghironi & Marc J. Melitz, 2019. "Monopoly Power and Endogenous Product Variety: Distortions and Remedies," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 140-174, October.
    12. Heathcote, Jonathan & Perri, Fabrizio, 2002. "Financial autarky and international business cycles," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 601-627, April.
    13. Aysun, Uluc & Kabukcuoglu, Zeynep, 2019. "Interest rates, R&D investment and the distortionary effects of R&D incentives," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 191-210.
    14. Howard Kung & Lukas Schmid, 2015. "Innovation, Growth, and Asset Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(3), pages 1001-1037, June.
    15. Kollmann, Robert & Enders, Zeno & Müller, Gernot J., 2011. "Global banking and international business cycles," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 407-426, April.
    16. Zimmermann, Christian, 1997. "International real business cycles among heterogeneous countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 319-356, February.
    17. Välikangas, Liisa & Hoegl, Martin & Gibbert, Michael, 2009. "Why learning from failure isn't easy (and what to do about it): Innovation trauma at Sun Microsystems," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 225-233, August.
    18. William R. Kerr, 2008. "Ethnic Scientific Communities and International Technology Diffusion," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 518-537, August.
    19. Havranek, Tomas & Irsova, Zuzana & Laslopova, Lubica & Zeynalova, Olesia, 2020. "The Elasticity of Substitution between Skilled and Unskilled Labor: A Meta-Analysis," MPRA Paper 102598, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Mario Crucini & Ayhan Kose & Christopher Otrok, 2011. "What are the driving forces of international business cycles?," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(1), pages 156-175, January.
    21. Aysun, Uluc, 2020. "Volatility costs of R&D," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    22. Michael B. Devereux & James Yetman, 2010. "Leverage Constraints and the International Transmission of Shocks," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(s1), pages 71-105, September.
    23. Stockman, Alan C & Tesar, Linda L, 1995. "Tastes and Technology in a Two-Country Model of the Business Cycle: Explaining International Comovements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 168-185, March.
    24. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2012. "Do financing constraints matter for R&D?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1512-1529.
    25. M. Ayhan Kose & Kei-Mu Yi, 2001. "International Trade and Business Cycles: Is Vertical Specialization the Missing Link?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 371-375, May.
    26. Ravn, Morten O. & Mazzenga, Elisabetta, 2004. "International business cycles: the quantitative role of transportation costs," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 645-671, June.
    27. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2010. "Product Creation and Destruction: Evidence and Price Implications," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(3), pages 691-723, June.
    28. Aysun, Uluc, 2022. "A structural approach to measuring the degree of economic integration: Evidence from G-7 countries," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    29. Cantore, Cristiano & Ferroni, Filippo & León-Ledesma, Miguel A., 2017. "The dynamics of hours worked and technology," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 67-82.
    30. Alpanda, Sami & Aysun, Uluc, 2014. "International transmission of financial shocks in an estimated DSGE model," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 21-55.
    31. Lawrence J. Christiano & Martin S. Eichenbaum & Mathias Trabandt, 2015. "Understanding the Great Recession," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 110-167, January.
    32. Patrick J. Kehoe & Fabrizio Perri, 2002. "International Business Cycles with Endogenous Incomplete Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(3), pages 907-928, May.
    33. Ben S. Bernanke & Kenneth S. Rogoff (ed.), 2001. "NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2000," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262523140, April.
    34. Uluc Aysun & Zeynep Yom, 2021. "R&D Characteristics, Innovation Spillover, and Technology-Driven Business Cycles," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 339-365, September.
    35. Bronwyn H. Hall & Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello & Sandro Montresor & Antonio Vezzani, 2016. "Financing constraints, R&D investments and innovative performances: new empirical evidence at the firm level for Europe," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 183-196, April.
    36. Antonio Ciccone & Giovanni Peri, 2005. "Long-Run Substitutability Between More and Less Educated Workers: Evidence from U.S. States, 1950-1990," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 652-663, November.
    37. Uluc Aysun, 2016. "Searching for the source of macroeconomic integration across advanced economies," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 68(2), pages 316-339.
    38. Bruno Cassiman & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2006. "In Search of Complementarity in Innovation Strategy: Internal R& D and External Knowledge Acquisition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(1), pages 68-82, January.
    39. Lucia Foster & Cheryl Grim & Nikolas Zolas, 2020. "A portrait of U.S. firms that invest in R&D," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 89-111, January.
    40. Canova, Fabio & de Nicolo, Gianni, 2003. "On the sources of business cycles in the G-7," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 77-100, January.
    41. Ayhan Kose, M. & Otrok, Christopher & Whiteman, Charles H., 2008. "Understanding the evolution of world business cycles," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 110-130, May.
    42. Lucia Foster & Cheryl Grim, 2010. "Characteristics of the Top R&D Performing Firms in the U.S.: Evidence from the Survey of Industrial R&D," Working Papers 10-33, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    43. Elliott, Graham & Fatas, Antonio, 1996. "International business cycles and the dynamics of the current account," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 361-387, February.
    44. Blanchard, Olivier Jean & Kahn, Charles M, 1980. "The Solution of Linear Difference Models under Rational Expectations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(5), pages 1305-1311, July.
    45. Comin, D. & Hobijn, B., 2004. "Cross-country technology adoption: making the theories face the facts," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 39-83, January.
    46. Helene Rey, 2013. "Dilemma not trilemma: the global cycle and monetary policy independence," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 1-2.
    47. Diego Anzoategui & Diego Comin & Mark Gertler & Joseba Martinez, 2019. "Endogenous Technology Adoption and R&D as Sources of Business Cycle Persistence," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 67-110, July.
    48. Pierre Azoulay, 2004. "Capturing Knowledge within and across Firm Boundaries: Evidence from Clinical Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1591-1612, December.
    49. Silvia Miranda-Agrippino & Hélène Rey, 2020. "U.S. Monetary Policy and the Global Financial Cycle," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(6), pages 2754-2776.
    50. J. Scott Davis, 2010. "The adverse feedback loop and the effects of risk in both the real and financial sectors," Globalization Institute Working Papers 66, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    51. Julio J. Rotemberg, 1982. "Monopolistic Price Adjustment and Aggregate Output," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 49(4), pages 517-531.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nepal, Rabindra & Zhao, Xiaomeng & Liu, Yang & Dong, Kangyin, 2024. "Can green finance strengthen energy resilience? The case of China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Uluc Aysun, 2016. "Searching for the source of macroeconomic integration across advanced economies," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 68(2), pages 316-339.
    2. Aysun, Uluc, 2020. "Volatility costs of R&D," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    3. Aysun, Uluc, 2022. "A structural approach to measuring the degree of economic integration: Evidence from G-7 countries," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    4. Uluc Aysun & Takeshi Yagihashi, 2019. "The common sources of business cycles in Trans‐Pacific countries and the US? A comparison with NAFTA," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 1077-1109, April.
    5. Aysun, Uluc, 2024. "Identifying the external and internal drivers of exchange rate volatility in small open economies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    6. Uluc Aysun & Zeynep Yom, 2019. "R&D, innovation spillover and business cycles," Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series 43, Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics.
    7. Uluc Aysun & Zeynep Yom, 2021. "R&D Characteristics, Innovation Spillover, and Technology-Driven Business Cycles," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 339-365, September.
    8. Uluc Aysun & Sami Alpanda, 2023. "The cyclicality of income distribution and innovation induced growth," Working Papers 2023-01, University of Central Florida, Department of Economics.
    9. Uluc Aysun & Melanie Guldi & Adam Honig & Zeynep Yom, 2020. "R&D, Market Power and the Cyclicality of Employment," Working Papers 2020-01, University of Central Florida, Department of Economics.
    10. Kose, M. Ayhan & Yi, Kei-Mu, 2006. "Can the standard international business cycle model explain the relation between trade and comovement?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 267-295, March.
    11. Alpanda, Sami & Aysun, Uluc, 2014. "International transmission of financial shocks in an estimated DSGE model," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 21-55.
    12. Hirata, Hideaki, 2014. "Preference shocks, international frictions, and international business cycles," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 92-104.
    13. Stijn Claessens & M Ayhan Kose, 2018. "Frontiers of macrofinancial linkages," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 95.
    14. Ippei Fujiwara & Koji Takahashi, 2012. "Asian Financial Linkage: Macro‐Finance Dissonance," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 136-159, February.
    15. Hamano, Masashige, 2015. "International equity and bond positions in a DSGE model with variety risk in consumption," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 212-226.
    16. Fattal Jaef, Roberto N. & Lopez, Jose Ignacio, 2014. "Entry, trade costs, and international business cycles," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 224-238.
    17. Alpanda, Sami & Aysun, Uluc, 2022. "Regulatory arbitrage and economic stability," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    18. Bianchi, Francesco & Kung, Howard & Morales, Gonzalo, 2019. "Growth, slowdowns, and recoveries," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 47-63.
    19. Justiniano, Alejandro & Preston, Bruce, 2010. "Can structural small open-economy models account for the influence of foreign disturbances?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 61-74, May.
    20. Dmitriev, Alexandre, 2017. "Composite habits and international transmission of business cycles," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1-34.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research and development; international business cycles; endogenous growth; DSGE; Bayesian estimation.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
    • F44 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Business Cycles
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cfl:wpaper:2023-02ua. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Uluc Aysun (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/decflus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.