The capacity of a society and its firms to generate and assimilate technological change is
generally recognized as a key component of prosperity and growth. A long tradition of
economic thinking that goes back at least to Schumpeter has identified a strong relationship
between innovation and productivity growth. In developing growth theory, Solow (1956)
attributed a vital role to technological change, and his vision of this issue remains a
foundation of its understanding. Griliches (1986) formalized and specified the empirical …