The Dual and Primal Rates of Technological Progress

Abstract

As is well-known, Solow (1957) published a seminal paper on estimating quantitatively the rate and the magnitude of contribution of the rate of technological change to the growth rate of Gross National Product (GNP) per labor hour of the non-agricultural sector of the American economy for the period 1909–49. To every economist’s surprise, the contribution of technological progress to the growth rate of GNP per labor hour was as high as 87 per cent. Ever since the appearance of Solow’s phenomenal work, tremendous numbers of papers on empirical estimations of technological change have been published all over the world, not only for the whole economy but also for individual sectors of the economy, including, of course, agriculture.¹