Direction Of Technological Progress Research Articles

Review on the thermal characteristics and applications of silicon nitride ceramics

As the heat generation problem is predicted to intensify due to the trend of integration and high density of the power semiconductor power module responsible for the electric drive of the electric vehicle, which has recently been in full swing, high-reliability materials and It is essential to secure large-area heat dissipation substrate manufacturing process technology, and technical obstacles to maintain reliability even in environmental changes such as severe cold/excessive heat are becoming issues.In the case of silicon nitride ceramic material, which is in the spotlight as a heat dissipation substrate material, a balance that meets the user’s needs is required. In order to realize excellent heat dissipation performance, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the silicon nitride substrate, increase the thickness of the metal junction, and improve the thermal conductivity of the silicon nitride material. Therefore, the task of technological progress beyond the complementary relationship between heat conduction-intensity still remains.In this paper, various technical considerations for increasing the thermal conductivity of silicon nitride ceramics are described, and the direction of technological progress is described along with detailed examples. In order to improve thermal conductivity, it is necessary to minimize the inflow of impurities into the raw material powder, appropriately select sintering additives required for liquid phase sintering, and optimize the microstructure through minimization of the amorphous glass phase and control of grain growth by the gas pressure sintering process.

Функціональний аналіз і розвиток інтегрованих виробничих систем промислових підприємств

The article specifies the key economic aspects of the functioning and development of integrated manufacturing systems of industrial enterprises. The article is aimed at substantiating the prospects for the development of integrated manufacturing systems as one of the paradigms of the organization of the production process. The methodological instrumentarium of the research consisted of the following methods: retrospective analysis, synthesis, critical analysis, graphic method, generalization method. In modern conditions, more and more attention is paid to the new integrated level of manufacturing systems, which can be considered as a combined production system from an aggregate of multi-level constituents of production systems of enterprises with the most progressive organizational and technological capabilities, created for a limited time in order to implement complex projects. The evolution of the organization of production systems with the allocation of modern paradigms of variability and integration is researched. The role of technological niches in the development and marketing of multitechnological platforms as examples of integrated manufacturing systems is outlined. The main requirements for production systems created in technological niches are such parameters as their flexibility, the level of automation and the possibility of integration. It is determined that flexible or integrated production means that the functional spectrum of multitechnological platforms should be maximized. The flexible production strategy is more profitable than conventional manufacturing, if there is a high probability that additional functions will actually be applied in the future, and the integration of functions will cause lower costs than the integration of an additional single-technology machine. Integration of manufacturing technologies is an urgent paradigm for designing production systems within the framework of evolutionary theory. The direction of technological progress is determined through the concept of suitability, which represents a fuzzy image of a prospective product developed in accordance with the technological paradigm in the selection environment. The problem of classification of flexible, reconfigured and integrated manufacturing systems is the prospect of further research.

A Generalized Growth Model and the Direction of Technological Progress

Based on a general growth model, this paper finds that the steady-state direction of technological progress is determined by the scale return of the production function and the relative factor supply elasticities. A specific version of that model extends Acemoglu (2002) to provide the underlying determinants of the supply elasticities and demonstrates that the relative price (Hicks, 1932) and relative market size (Acemoglu, 2002) have only a short-term impact on the direction of technological progress. A consequence of the analysis is that the steady-state technological progress is purely labor-augmenting (i.e. delivers Uzawa’s steady-state theorem) if and only if the scale return of the production function is constant and the supply elasticity of capital is infinite. Analogously, an infinite labor supply elasticity is required if labor-augmenting technological progress is to be excluded prior to the Industrial Revolution. Accordingly, changing factor supply elasticities may have induced the Industrial Revolution.

Anthony B. Atkinson , Inequality – What Can Be Done ? Cambridge (Mass.) Harvard University Press, 2015, XI-384 p.

The economist Anthony Atkinson has studied the issues of poverty and inequality for over four decades; an index of inequality is named after him. In his most recent work, Atkinson offers a fascinating, encouraging guide to what could be done to reduce monetary inequality. The importance of equal opportunity should not lead us to ignore inequality in outcomes, he explains, not only because the same efforts do not always produce the same results but also because inequality of outcome for one generation can become inequality of opportunity for the next: today's ex-post outcomes shape tomorrow's ex-ante playing field (p. 11). And though income is only one dimension, it is a major source of inequality. The book is divided into three parts: diagnosis; 15 proposals for action that, if implemented, would reduce inequality; and answers to the main objections to taking those actions.While monetary inequality has increased sharply since 1980, there have been non-war periods - primarily the post-WWII decades in Europe and the 2000s decade in Latin America - that have seen falls in inequality. The phenomena at work are clearly and simply explained by means of a diagram detailing the stages through which a household's primary income becomes its disposable income: labour and/or capital income, social transfers, taxation. This in turn enables us to determine at what stage the level of inequality changed in a given country at a given period. While less unequal pay and increases in social transfers and women's labour market participation reduced the extent of overall inequality in post-war Europe, this was not the case in the United States, where the last two factors only worked to compensate for rising pay inequality.Generally speaking, equalizing forces went into reverse in the 1980s in most western countries. Workers and consumers lost power to employers, which, combined with reduced social protection and less progressive taxation, greatly increased inequality. Many of Atkinson's proposals are not new; some, such as the minimum wage, have already been applied. Others are quite radical and so raise the question of feasibility and collateral effects. But they all fit together into a highly consistent whole that forcefully conveys Atkinson's now familiar message: states, and through them citizens (though this is never said explicitly), do have the power to act. Above all, the direction of technological progress is not entirely beyond our control: the state can orient it through investments and stakeholding, and this need not mean increased control over business.Inequality-reducing actions can be taken at three levels: household primary income (labour and/or capital income), taxation policy, and social transfers. These correspond directly to the state's three missions: regulation, redistribution and protection. Atkinson's first set of proposals - minimum wage, a national pay policy, guaranteed public employment, ensuring that technological change and innovation are human-centred - are aimed at reducing pay inequality and containing unemployment. The second set of measures would ensure that every adult receives a minimum inheritance in the form of a capital endowment or state bonds with a guaranteed return.In addition to measures that would work to reduce primary income inequality, Atkinson proposes an ambitious fiscal reform that would make income tax more progressive while widening the fiscal base, easing conditions for low earners, taxing inheritance and gifts during life, and increasing property tax progressiveness.The third raft of proposals is aimed at reforming social protection systems; reductions in this area are one source of recent increases in inequality. …

Offshoring and Directed Technical Change

We study the implications of offshoring on innovation, technology, and wage inequality in a Ricardian model with directed technical change. Profit maximization determines both the extent of offshoring and the direction of technological progress. A fall in the offshoring cost induces technical change with an ambiguous factor bias. When the initial cost of offshoring is high, an increase in offshoring opportunities causes a fall in the real wages of unskilled workers in industrial countries, skill-biased technical change and rising skill premia. When the offshoring cost is sufficiently low, instead, offshoring induces technical change biased in favor of the unskilled workers. (JEL J24, J31, L24, O33)

Endogenous Innovation, the Economy and the Environment: Impacts of a Technology-Based Modelling Approach for Energy-Intensive Industries in Germany

This paper presents policy simulation results from a new modelling approach for three energy-intensive industry sectors in Germany. In this approach, technological change is explicitly portrayed and linked to actual production processes. Likewise, technology choice is modelled via investments in new production process lines. The new modelling approach is integrated into the macro-econometric model PANTA RHEI. By endogenizing technological change it also takes into account that policy interventions may affect the rate and direction of technological progress. The implications of me new modelling approach are highlighted by simulating me effects of a CO, tax in me new approach and in the conventional approach. For me energy- and capital-intensive industries considered, our results show that the conventional top-down approach overestimates me short-term possibilities to adapt to higher CO, prices in me early years. By including policy-induced technological change and process shifts, me new approach also captures me long-term effects on CO, emissions well beyond the initial price impulse. In me long tun, me estimated costs are found to be smaller under me new approach.

The impact of energy conservation on technology and economic growth

We present a model of growth driven by energy use and endogenous factor-augmenting technological change. Both the rate and direction of technological progress are endogenous. The model captures four main stylised facts: total energy use has increased; energy use per hour worked increased slightly; energy efficiency has improved; and the value share of energy in GDP has steadily fallen. We study how energy conservation policies affect growth over time and in the long run. Policies that reduce the level of energy use are distinguished from those that reduce the growth rate of energy inputs. Although these policies may stimulate innovation, they unambiguously depress output levels. The former policy has no impact on long-run growth; the latter reduces long-run growth both in the short run and in the long run.

Von der Umwelttechnik zur umweltverträglichen Technologie: Eine neue technologische Revolution steht bevor

From Environmental Technology to Sustainable Technologies – A Sweeping Technological Revolution Ahead. Environmental technology was established as a new branch of the modern economy. Half a million jobs are offered in this domain in Germany alone. Under the global criteria of sustainability, however, environmental technology is just not enough. Taking the Climate Convention seriously will force the North to fundamentally change the direction of technological progress, from the increase of labor productivity towards an increase of energy productivity. For this to happen, market signals are a more powerful tool than bureaucratic regulations. Prices should tell the ecological truth. A revenue-neutral ecological tax reform, gradually raising fossil and nuclear energy prices by 5 percent per annum (in constant dollars) would lead within some 40 years to a dramatic increase in both energy productivity and renewables, at the expense of fossil and nuclear energy. A far-reaching technological transformation would ensue. New high-efficiency “sunrise” technologies are bound to emerge. Complex services would gain ground. It is assumed that not all problems can be solved by ecologizing professional labor. Eventually, professional labor may shrink without loss of well-being.

On the Classification of Inventions

In the analysis of short-run factor and commodity pricing under changing technological conditions the bias or particular direction of technological progress is important in describing changes from one equilibrium situation to another. The extent and nature of technological change are even more important to the theory of economic growth. In treating these matters various authors have advanced alternative theo-