A non-parametric approach to innovation gaps and economic growth

A non-parametric approach based on DEA techniques is used to dis- entangle the relationship between innovation growth and per-capita GDP growth in a sample of 30 countries during 1996-2008. The decomposition of GDP-growth brings support to the notion of advantage of backward- ness. It leads to conclude that, in the context of innovation, both the process of catching-up and technological change play an important explanation of the dynamics of economic growth. This is in sharp contrast to alternative evidence that brings more support to the importance of capital deepening in explaining labour growth productivity