Diego A. Comin
There are 8 articles for this faculty member.
About Faculty in this Article:
Diego A. Comin is an associate professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.
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Medium Term Business Cycles in Developing Countries
| Authors: | Diego Comin, Norman Loayza, Farooq Pasha, and Luis Serven |
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| Published: | November 5, 2009 |
| Paper Release Date: | October 2009 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
At the end of 2007, the U.S. economy entered a recession that, by the first quarter of 2009, had reduced U.S. GDP by 2.2 percent. The Mexican economy was showing no sign of distress until the U.S. recession began. Despite that, Mexican GDP declined by 7.8 percent during the same period. This and similar episodes from other developing countries motivate several questions: Why do shocks to developed economies affect developing countries to such an extent? Does the response of developing economies to shocks that originate in their developed neighbors account for the larger volatility of developing economies? More broadly, what ingredients do macroeconomic models need to incorporate in order to account for the unique features of economic fluctuations in developing economies? To investigate these questions, the researchers developed a two-country asymmetric model to study the business cycle in developing countries. The mechanisms introduced in the model should provide an accurate account of business cycles in other developing countries.
Technology Innovation and Diffusion as Sources of Output and Asset Price Fluctuations
| Authors: | Diego A. Comin, Mark Gertler, and Ana Maria Santacreu |
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| Published: | July 2, 2009 |
| Paper Release Date: | May 2009 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
A central challenge to modern business cycle analysis is that standard macro models are unable to generate fluctuations in the stock market with the amplitude, persistence, and lead-lag pattern observed in the data. At the same time, standard macro models predict that good news about future, such as those received during 1994-1995 on the arrival of IT, lead to recessions rather than expansions. HBS professor Diego Comin and coauthors develop a model that overcomes these two problems by explicitly incorporating an endogenous speed of diffusion of technologies that is increasing in the resources spent in adoption. Revisions in beliefs about future profits generate fluctuations in the stock market with the amplitude and lead over output observed in the data. The firms' investment decisions in adoption leads to a shift in labor demand that increases hours worked and output.
The Unseen Link Between Savings and National Growth
| Q&A with: | Diego A. Comin |
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| Published: | May 18, 2009 |
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Professor Diego Comin and fellow researchers find a little observed link between private savings and country growth. The work may offer a simple interpretation for the East Asia "miracle" and for failures in Latin America. Q&A.
When Does Domestic Saving Matter for Economic Growth?
| Authors: | Philippe Aghion, Diego Comin, Peter Howitt, and Isabel Tecu |
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| Published: | February 20, 2009 |
| Paper Release Date: | January 2009 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
The researchers begin with a simply stated question: Can a country grow faster by saving more? Long-run growth theories imply that a country can grow faster by investing more in human or physical capital or in R&D, but that a country with access to international capital markets cannot grow faster by saving more. Domestic saving is therefore not considered an important ingredient in the growth process because investment can be financed by foreign saving. From the point of view of standard growth theory, the positive cross-country correlation between saving and growth that many commentators have noted appears puzzling. HBS professor Diego Comin and colleagues develop a theory of local saving and growth in an open economy with domestic and foreign investors.
An Exploration of the Japanese Slowdown during the 1990s
| Author: | Diego A. Comin |
|---|---|
| Published: | January 29, 2009 |
| Paper Release Date: | November 2008 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Why was the 1990s a lost decade for Japan? HBS professor Diego Comin argues that it was the combination of some shocks that lasted for about three years and the response of companies that drastically reduced their expenses in adopting new technologies and developing new ones. Though the severe shocks that hit the Japanese economy did not persist, the investments that Japanese companies and entrepreneurs did not undertake to improve technology and production methods during the 1990s propagated those shocks and made their effects very long-lasting.
Turbulent Firms, Turbulent Wages?
| Authors: | Diego A. Comin, Erica L. Groshen, and Bess Rabin |
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| Published: | January 22, 2009 |
| Paper Release Date: | October 2008 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Has more creative destruction among firms raised wage volatility in the United States? Most of the related research on the remarkable and well-documented widening of wage inequality in the U.S. over the past three decades focuses on permanent components of workers' earnings, particularly the rising returns to education and ability associated with technological change, trade, and de-unionization. Less is known, however, about the contribution of larger transitory fluctuations. HBS professor Comin and colleagues explore whether workers' average pay is more volatile in firms that have experienced higher turbulence in sales. Findings have important implications for theories of labor markets and optimal wage compensation schemes.
Published in 2008
Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 B.C.?
| Authors: | Diego A. Comin, William Easterly, and Erick Gong |
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| Published: | November 20, 2008 |
| Paper Release Date: | October 2008 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
To the extent that history is discussed at all in economic development, it is usually either the divergence associated with the Industrial Revolution or the effects of colonial regimes. Is it possible that precolonial, preindustrial history also matters significantly for today's national economic development? The authors find that technology adoption circa 1500 A.D., prior to the era of colonization and extensive European contacts, predicts approximately 50 percent of cross-country differences in both current per capita income and technology in a large cross-section of countries. When exploring the causes of this extreme persistence in technology, they find evidence in favor of the importance of the effect of current adoption on subsequent adoption as the main driver. This leaves a limited role to country-specific factors such as institutions, geography, or genes to explain the persistence of technology.
An Exploration of Technology Diffusion
| Authors: | Diego A. Comin and Bart Hobijn |
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| Published: | April 22, 2008 |
| Paper Release Date: | April 2008 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
How long are technology adoption lags? Can cross-country differences in technology adoption lags account for a significant fraction of cross-country GDP disparities? Diego Comin of Harvard Business School and Bart Hobijn of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York develop a new benchmark to understand the diffusion process of individual technologies and the consequences that this has for aggregate growth. This benchmark provides a rationale for the evolution of diffusion measures that include how many units of technology each adopter has adopted in addition to the traditional extensive margin. The model is estimated to obtain measures of adoption lags for 15 technologies in 166 countries.
