This is the topic of models of technological diffusion in the spirit of Nelson and Phelps (1966), which suggest that education is the key ingredient for absorbing new technologies and adapting to change. These models stress the leading role of the stock of human capital in the adoption of new technologies and in the ability to deal with changing conditions. Empirical research shows that the strongest predictor of long-run economic growth is the cognitive skills of the population in such basic knowledge areas as mathematics, science and reading (Hanushek and Woessmann, 2008 and 2011 a).