亚当·斯密在《国富论》中论证了经济增长取决于劳动生产率的改善，而今天劳动生产率的改善要么来自技术创新，要么来自产业升级（将产能重新配置给更高附加值的新部门 ） 。
As Adam Smith discussed in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, economic growth depends on improvements in labor productivity, which today result from either technological innovation or industrial upgrading (the reallocation of productive capacity into new sectors with higher added value).