National investment in technological activity is commonly justified in terms of the positive impacts upon productivity, international competitiveness and related aspects of national economic performance. This premise has found a supportive theoretical framework in the new technology and growth models. Based on extended technology-gap models, this study examines cross-country empirical evidence on the relationship between technology-intensive trade performance (as a proxy for technological output) and per capita economic performance, utilising 1978 to 1992 data for around 45 nations. The results provide some support for a positive relationship between trade performance and economic returns. However, the weak and often inconsistent results suggest that the unconditional pursuit of technology-intensive trade improvements may not necessarily have the expected net benefits.