Weiss Lecture topic: Semiconductor industry

Unni Pillai of the College of Nanoscale Sciences and Engineering in Albany will deliver the William E. Weiss Lecture in Economics. Free and open to the public, the lecture will begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, in Emerson Auditorium. 

Pillai has titled his talk “The Semiconductor Industry and its Contribution to Economic Growth.” The increasing computerization of the U.S economy during the period 1974-1995 was paradoxically accompanied by slow productivity growth in the economy. Productivity growth, however, accelerated in the second half of the 1990s. Industrial level studies credit the Information Technology (IT) sector to have been the main driver behind the resurgence, and within the IT sector, the semiconductor industry to have played the central role. This lecture will use engineering and economic measures of technological progress in the semiconductor industry to evaluate the role of semiconductor industry in the rate of growth of aggregate productivity and output during the period 1974-2012.

Pillai completed his graduate work at the University of Minnesota in 2008, earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of London and a master’s degree at the London School of Economics. His research focuses on the economic drivers of technological change. Technical advances in high tech industries are important contributors to productivity growth in the macro economy and to improvements in the standard of living. Pillai studies how economic factors influence the rate at which these technical advances are made, how government policies can influence the rate of technical change, and the welfare impact of these policies. His work includes theoretical modeling, econometric estimation of model parameters, and use of estimated models to quantitatively understand the impact of government policies.

Prior to joining the CNSE, Pillai received fellowships from the National Science Foundation to support his work with the American Statistical Association and Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The William E. Weiss Lecture in Economics at Skidmore is made possible with the assistance of former Trustee Arturo Peralto-Ramos III, a member of Skidmore's Class of 1974. Named in honor of Peralta-Ramos's stepfather, William E. Weiss, the lecture series fosters discussion of contemporary economic issues.