World Technology Usage Lags

World Technology Usage Lags
by Diego A. Comin, Bart Hobijn, Emilie Rovito

Abstract: We present evidence on the differences in the intensity with which ten technologies are used in 185 countries.  To measure differences in technology use, we determine how long ago these technologies were used in the U.S. at the same intensity as they are used in the countries in our sample.  We denote these time lags as technology usage lags and compare them with lags in real GDP per capita.  We find that (i) many countries trail the U.S. in technology usage by several decades or more; (ii) usage lags are highly correlated with disparities in per-capita income; and (iii) usage lags are highly correlated across technologies.