Knowledge and economic growth

This thesis is centered around two empirical questions. The first question deals with the paradox that the ICT revolution does not pay off with higher productivity growth for the ICT- users. The interaction between production and knowledge accumulation and the ¿general- purpose' nature of the ICT revolution is examined to explain the paradoxical finding. The second question ¿ what explains the increase in wage inequality between high-skilled and low-skilled workers over the last two decades ¿ is studied from several angles. The role for trade is assessed alongside of different technology-based explanations. Both questions are addressed from a uniform conceptual framework emphasizing the importance of knowledge and knowledge spillovers for understanding modern economic growth.