Economic growth, the high-tech sector, and the high skilled: Theory and quantitative implications

•Europe's “2020 Strategy” stresses the role of high-tech sectors and high-skilled workers.•The relationship between growth, technology and skills is statistically insignificant.•We investigate a theoretical setup that connects these facts.•We extend a directed-technical-change growth model and take it to the data.•We highlight the relevance of high relative barriers to entry in the high-tech sector.