Abstract

In this work I recall some features of Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" still central to the economic analysis of technological change. In particular themes related to division of labour, learning-by-doing, returns to scale and technical progress are tackled. A "new" production function is used in order to take into account properly the productive implications of learning-by-doing. Endogeneity of technological progress emerges as a key point of the original Smithian analysis.