We examine the extent to which financial market development impacts the diffusion of 16 major technologies, looking across 17 countries, from 1870 to 2000. We find that greater depth in financial markets leads to faster technology diffusion for more capital-intensive technologies, but only in periods closer to the invention of the technology. In fact, we find no differential effect of financial depth on the diffusion of capital-intensive technologies in the late stages of diffusion or in late adopters. Our results are consistent with a view that local financial markets play a critical role in facilitating the process of experimentation that is required for the initial commercialization and diffusion of technologies.

中文翻译：

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金融发展与技术扩散

从1870年到2000年，我们考察了17个国家/地区中金融市场发展对16种主要技术的传播的影响程度。我们发现，金融市场越深入，对于资本密集型技术的影响就越快，技术扩散越快。时期更接近该技术的发明。实际上，我们发现在扩散的后期或采用者较晚的时期，财务深度对资本密集型技术的扩散没有差异作用。我们的结果与以下观点一致：本地金融市场在促进最初的商业化和技术推广所需的实验过程中起着至关重要的作用。