The long-run relationship between technology diffusion, (local) innovation and productivity, and the impact of government intervention on long-run economic growth, are studied using a sample of 62 countries classified into successful and unsuccessful cases of catching-up. Our dataset is constructed by combining a large suite of statistics for a 30-year period spanning 1980–2010. We rely on conventional Johansen cointegration analysis on individual countries and discuss our findings based on the mean group estimates and empirical distributions of the results for each country classification. The evidence supports the importance of the interaction between technology diffusion and innovation, and the relevance of government coordination to boost innovation and economic growth.