The Solow Model 1 – Introduction

The Solow Model is a workhorse model of economic growth. Many subsequent papers in growth theory (and in business cycle theory) build on this model. A model of growth helps us to structure our thinking. Why is it, for example, that China is growing faster than the United States despite having much poorer institutions such as the rule of law?  Surprisingly, even a simple version of the Solow model offers some useful predictions and ways to interpet aspects of the growth data. The four videos in this section will be especially useful for people who will see the Solow model in other classes and for anyone who wants to read more of the primary literature on growth theory or the empirics of growth (such as can be found, for example, in Barro and Sala-i-Martin's Economic Growth or David Weil's excellent textbook Economic Growth). We think these videos will be useful, however, even if you don't want to study the theory in more depth. We also offer a briefer treatment in our video The Solow Model (Brief, no math).

Related videos: The Solow Model - (Brief, no math), The Solow Model 2 – Comparative Statics, The Solow Model 3 – Taking the Model to Data, The Solow Model 4 – Productivity