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A firm's set of knowledge processes may be affected by the entrepreneurial culture of the country in which it is located. Total factor productivity, mainly associated with technical progress, accounts for most differences over time and across countries. In the present work we examine the determinants of total factor productivity growth in 26 OECD countries between 1965 and 2010, breaking them down into changes in technical efficiency and shifts in technology over time. Using the U.S. as the technology frontier, different patterns of productivity growth emerge between world technology leaders and countries with low initial levels of productivity. Whereas changes in efficiency seem to be the main result of the evolution in the stock of knowledge in technologically dependent economies, suggesting that less advanced economies can benefit from their relative backwardness, domestic research effort appears to be a relevant factor for technology leaders.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine, from the perspective of different theoretical approaches, the relationship that exists between different ontological supports of knowledge and knowledge itself (the way it is created and its characteristics). Design/methodology/approach -The paper proposes two different types of knowledge (knowledge of concrete situations and abstract knowledge) and two approaches (the constructivist view and the cognitive view) and provides a general classification of the different knowledge types. Second, it examines the underlying ontological support-knowledge creation, characteristics or types of knowledge relationship in different approaches. Finally, conclusions are drawn that show how the conception of ontological support conditions the way in which knowledge is conceived. Findings -The results of the paper consist of making explicit the ontological support-knowledge creation, characteristics or types of knowledge relationship in different approaches; and enabling understanding of the fact that the ideas one has about knowledge (how it is created or what its characteristics are) come from one's beliefs about the supports in, or in interaction with, which it is created.Research limitations/implications -The implications for the different approaches to knowledge theory are important. The study proposes a change with regard to how one considers the ontological supports of knowledge. The limitation of the paper lies in the fact that this proposal needs to be presented in a more extensive format, through a series of different papers and analyses. Originality/value -The originality of the paper stems from the fact that it focuses on the ontological supports of knowledge and highlights the idea that the conception of these supports leads to a particular way of conceiving knowledge.