Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Corruption And Productivity, Chris Kelly

All Theses

Corruption is suggested to have a negative impact on productivity and thus growth. Several studies have studied the relationship closely, including Hall and Jones (1999) and Lambsdorff (2003). This paper seeks to build on their foundation and specify a new and robust model by looking at the effect of corruption controls on total factor productivity through a two-stage least squares regression. Since it is through public institutions that corruption manifests, also examined are differences between `inclusive' and `extractive' institutions. Also important is the degree to which a state is centralized. Extraction by way of corrupt institutions differs in highly centralized …

A Regional Perspective Of The Innovation, The Knowledge Capital And The Productivity In Mexico, Luis Gutiérrez Flores, Vicente German-Soto, Denise Alejandra Gallegos Treviño

Vicente German-Soto

Quantitative Evaluation Of The Struggle Of Economic Performance: The Case Of Mena Countries, Noha Emara

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The recent political uprising in the Middle East and North African (MENA) economies shines the light on evaluating the so-called structural reforms that are aimed at achieving economic freedom. This paper examines the impact of liberal policies on the economic performance of labor and capital productivity in MENA economies. Using nonlinear Panel Least Squares regression with regional dummies and period fixed effects (LSDV) for a sample of 18 MENA countries over the period 1995-2009, the study estimates the impact of different aspects of economic freedom on labor and capital productivity. The economic freedom measure encompass different areas, including freedom of …

Can Policy Spur Technological Growth?, William Sargent

Honors Theses

The long-term slowdown in productivity growth for OECD countries, despite increased resources allocated to R&D, has once again raised the issue of limits of technological change. I explore the relationship between labor productivity growth and R&D intensity, using macro-level panel data from OECD countries. My empirical analysis essentially tests the semi-endogenous growth theory against the fully-endogenous Schumpeterian growth theory. The semi-endogenous framework assumes diminishing returns to R&D and requires positive population growth to generate long-run growth. The fully-endogenous framework assumes growing product variety and requires a constant share of R&D inputs in overall inputs in order to generate positive long-run …