High-tech and High Capability in a Growth Model

A growth model is developed to substantiate the conventional wisdom that regards high-tech high-capability firms as an engine of sustained technological progress. High-tech industries are characterized by abounding technological opportunities, which promote endogenous high capability firms due to a competitive escalation mechanism. While high-tech high-capability firms capitalize on and discharge the existing innovation potentials, they also contribute to recharge (due to knowledge spillovers). They are a source of growth and high wage rate. An inquiry into the reasons why the high-tech/high-capability growth mechanism is not widely adoptable across countries points to the role of the underlying corporate governance systems