Ricardo Hausmann on Economic Complexity and Productive Knowledge

CID Faculty Director Ricardo Hausmann explains his theory of Economic Complexity for the Explorations in New Economic Thinking Panel at INET Conference 2013. Economic Complexity is a measure of the amount of capabilities and know-how that goes into the production of any given product. Products are vehicles for knowledge. The theory and supporting empirical evidence explains why the accumulation of productive knowledge is the key to sustained economic growth. The theories help us understand which countries are best poised for economic growth, how countries can acquire and enhance their productive knowledge, and which industries and sectors are likely to appear or disappear over the long term in any given country. Hausmann was one of several international scholars who shared new approaches to understanding economic growth and innovation from a complex systems and evolutionary perspective. The annual conference was held April 4-6 in Hong Kong. INET 2013: http://ineteconomics.org/conference/h... The Atlas online: http://www.atlas.cid.harvard.edu