This dissertation studies the growth process from two different approaches. First, the measurement of misallocation of production inputs in China is analyzed within the context of a dynamic investment model that presents adjustment costs, with the purpose of assessing how much of the measured misallocation arises due to the presence of these costs. Given that these are technological constraints, rather than imperfections in markets or distortions arising from sub-optimal institutional features of a country, these are unavoidable. Thus, the potential aggregate productivity gains that would arise in a static model if inputs were perfectly allocated are over estimated, as these would be faced also by a social planner. Second, the product cycle as a feature of economic growth is studied. Using historical data from the United States, a model where growth occurs through innovations where production and entry-exit dynamics is estimated, and we use it to learn about the features of the product cycle: the number of firms operating in a sector peaks at 19 years and the number of firms that they imply varies greatly, yet how much output they imply is much more compact.