General Purpose Technologies: Engines of Growth?
· The Journal of Econometrics lists an issue month but no publication day; 15 January is used as a neutral sorting date.
Summary
Bresnahan and Trajtenberg describe general-purpose technologies as widely used inputs that keep improving and make innovation in downstream sectors more productive. These complementarities can generate broad gains, but fragmented incentives and uncertainty between technology suppliers and users may produce “too little, too late” innovation.
Why it matters
The framework explains why AI capability is only one part of the economic story. Co-invention, organizational redesign, skills, standards, and adoption across many industries can determine when productivity gains appear and who captures them.
What to keep in mind
The paper develops a theoretical framework around earlier technologies such as steam power, electricity, and semiconductors; it does not empirically establish that AI is a general-purpose technology or estimate the size or speed of its effects.