Today, the Solow model is presented in a very different way. Recent textbooks rarely
mention the Harrod–Domar model, and the Solow model is now mainly used to explain observed cross-country differences in the level of income (e.g. Jones, 2002; Weil, 2004).
Probably it is the loss of historical context in combination with what has become a standard
empirical approach that explains why parts of the applied growth literature appear to perceive
the Solow model as emphasizing factor accumulation as the major determinant of crosscountry
income differences. For instance, Easterly and Levine (2001) find, in a survey
of empirical research, that factor accumulation is not a major determinant of growth and
development, and conclude that this stylized fact speaks against growth models in the tradition
of the Solow model.