查看文章

“Learning-by-doing” is usually identified as a process whereby performance increases with experience in production. Of course such form of learning is complementary to other patterns of capability accumulation. Still, it is fundamental to assess its importance in the process of development. 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 …