2016/26 | LEM Working Paper Series | ||||||||||||||||
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The cost-quantity relations and the diverse patterns of “learning by doing”: Evidence from India |
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Giovanni Dosi, Marco Grazzi and Nanditha Mathew |
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Keywords | |||||||||||||||||
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Learning-by-doing, learning curves, product innovation, process innovation
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JEL Classifications | |||||||||||||||||
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D22, D24, L6, O3
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Abstract | |||||||||||||||||
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“Learning-by-doing” is usually identified as a process whereby
performance increases with experience in production. The paper
investigates different patterns of “learning by doing”, studying
learning curves at product level in a catching-up country,
India. Cost-quantity relationships differ a lot across products
belonging to sectors with different “technological intensities”. We
find also, puzzlingly, in quite a few cases, that the relation
price/cumulative quantities is increasing. We conjecture that this is
in fact due to quality improvement and 'vertical' product
differentiation. Circumstantial evidence rests on the ways
differential learning patterns are affected by firm spending on
research and capital investments. Finally, our evidence suggests that
“learning”, or performance improvement over time is not a just
by-product of the mere repetition of the same production activities,
as sometimes reported in previous studies, but rather it seems to be
shaped by deliberate firm learning efforts.
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