Growth and Development Commons^™

An Empirical Estimate Of The Optimal Level Of Fiscal Deficit In Guinea, Emmanuel A. Onwioduokit

Economic and Financial Review

Excessive deficits, irrespective of the mode of financing, are assumed to be growth retarding. The conventional wisdom is that high budget deficit is a source of economic instability. Empirical research, however, does not conclusively support this conventional wisdom; results are mixed and controversial across countries . These conflicting results have raised the important question of heterogeneity and also underscored the usefulness of time series data for country specific studies in order to address heterogeneity. This paper sought to ascertain the relationship between fiscal deficits and economic growth in Guinea and to find the threshold level of fiscal, deficit that is …

The Great Indian Growth Puzzle: What Caused A Spike In 2003?, Aditya Bindal

CMC Senior Theses

This paper will employ unit root tests for finding structural breaks endogenously among India’s key macroeconomic aggregate series, as well as their components and subcomponents. The same analysis will be repeated, wherever data are available, for states. The results from these unit root tests will then be used in regression models for national and state level data to understand the causes behind structural breaks. We find that breakpoints cluster around 1982 and 2003 for most series at the national and state level. The services component appears to be a promising candidate for explaining the 2003 structural break in some of …

Public Policy, Human Instincts, And Economic Growth, Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

Alfred Marshall famously insisted that economics is more like biology than physics. Societies are organic ecologies that evolve and produce organized but unplanned complexity (Hayek 1979). Although no public policy reliably produces economic growth across all ecosystems, a key element unites diverse institutions and policies that do seem to work: they all are reasonably compatible with human instinct. Institutions that build on the basic instinct for self-betterment (as in markets) have a much easier time in achieving success than institutions that oppose it (as in communism). Instincts, like gravity, are a force of nature. Adam Smith theorized, for example, …

A Time Series Investigation Of The Impact Of Corporate And Personal Current Taxes On Economic Growth In The U.S., Peter J. Saunders

Economics Faculty Scholarship

This paper investigates the impact of corporate income taxes and personal current taxes on economic growth. Time-series tests analyzing the relationship between corporate taxes and nonresidential investment are implemented. Also tests of the impact of personal current taxes on the labor supply, approximated by the average weekly overtime hours in manufacturing, are undertaken. These tests include cointegration, vector error correction (VEC) estimation, and Granger causality testing of the relevant time-series data. Cointegration tests indicate the existence of a stable long run relationship between corporate taxes and nonresidential investment. Further investigation of this relationship is undertaken within the VEC testing framework. …

Women In China, Between Confucius And The Market, Tonia Warnecke, Alain Blanchard

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Are Savings Working For Zambia’S Growth?, Chrispin Mphuka

Zambia Social Science Journal

This article analyses the effect of savings on economic growth in Zambia. Using vector auto regression, the article finds that economic growth ‘Granger’ causes domestic savings. This goes contrary to the neoclassical theory on the relationship between economic growth and savings. However, the article argues that a case of increasing domestic savings mobilization holds on the premise that doing so may influence growth indirectly by attracting partnerships with international capital thereby helping to inject new technology in the economy which is undoubtedly vital for growth. The argument is strengthened further by observing that East Asian countries have grown faster than …

How Does Income Inequality Affect The Growth Of U.S. Counties?, Jeremy Roth

Economics Honors Projects

This paper aims to conduct a precise test of the political economy hypothesis linking income inequality and economic growth. By choosing covariates from a detailed county-level dataset and assuming that U.S. counties experience perfect capital mobility, I shut off the four possible channels linking inequality and growth other than political economy. This is a first in an empirical literature that has reported conflicting findings with observations of states and countries. I also present thematic maps to illustrate the cross-county variation in key growth determinants that is masked by state-level studies. My econometric tests find a negative association between the initial …

Innovation And Entrepreneurship: The New Drift In Federal Policy, Mark Muro

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Several defining characteristics will shape the post‐Great Recession economy:The “next” economy will be export‐oriented, lower‐carbon, and innovation‐fueled The next economy will also be metropolitan‐led:Which means regions belong at the center of national innovation and entrepreneurship policy. There is no single American economy, but a network of 366 metropolitan economies that compete with other economic regions around the world

Reclaiming Prosperity: Repositioning Southern Nevada For The Next Economy, Bruce Katz

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The outlines of the next American economy are coming into focus, yet the future remains uncertain in Southern Nevada as America's newest metropolis labors through a major recession. It is time therefore to get back on track and begin laying the foundation for a new and more durable kind of growth in metropolitan Las Vegas and across the Intermountain West. To help with that, urban visionary Bruce Katz advanced a powerful depiction of the next American economy in a major UNLV lecture and articulated a bold agenda for helping Las Vegas reclaim prosperity in the new era.

Las Vegas As The American Milan: Economic Growth In The World Economy, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Milan as a Metaphor:
- Milan Makes Stuff and is a Tech City
- Milan’s Specialty as a World City is Design and Trade
- Milan is Not a Museum—Unlike Some Other Italian Cities that have Inspired Las Vegas such as Venice and Florence
- Design Needs Flair—We Got Plenty of That and it Plays to a Key Strength

Funded Contributory Pension Scheme, Financial Deepening And Economic Growth: What Does The Evidence Say So Far About The Nigerian Economy?, Victor O. Asekunowo

Bullion

The fully funded defined contributory benefit pension system was introduced in Nigeria in July, 2004 to replace the old fiscally unsustainable defined benefit (Pay-As-You-Go) pension system. The new pension scheme, coming at the heels of earlier reforms in Nigeria's financial sector, could be deemed to serve as a further boost towards savings mobilisation, increased financial instruments acquisition and economic growth. After a survey of relevant literature was conducted, secondary data on relevant macroeconomic indices in the Nigerian economy were collected. The data were descriptively analysed. The results showed that TDS (total domestic savings) increased during the post-pension reform period and …

The Next Las Vegas Boom, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The Great Recession—Where are We Now?

- U.S. Employment

- U.S. GDP by Type

- U.S. Household Net Worth

- U.S Retail Sales

Globalization And Economic Growth In Sub-Saharan Africa, Hadiatou Barry

Gettysburg Economic Review

This study analyzes Sub-Saharan Africa through the framework of globalization. The study‘s objective is to determine whether globalization is a significant factor when associated with economic growth in the region. Using panel data from 1995-2005 for 41 countries and the KOF globalization index, an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model was employed to examine the relationship between globalization and other traditional factors of economic growth such as trade, foreign direct investment, loans, aid, natural resources, corruption, and rule of law. The study shows that globalization has a positive, though statistically insignificant impact on the economic growth of Sub-Saharan Africa. However, globalization …

How Does Foreign Direct Investment Affect Growth In Developing Countries? An Empirical Investigation, E. M. Ekanayake, John R. Ledgerwood

Publications

This paper analyzes the effects of foreign direct investment on the economic growth of developing countries. The study uses annual data on a group of 85 developing countries covering Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean for the period 1980-2007. We explore the hypothesis that foreign direct investment can promote growth in developing countries. We test this hypothesis using panel data series for foreign direct investment, while accounting for regional differences in Asian, African, Latin American, and the Caribbean countries as well as the differences in income levels. While the findings of previous studies are generally mixed, our results …

Moral Markets: The Critical Role Of Values In The Economy By Paul J. Zak (Book Review), Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

This volume contains the fruits of a two-year seminar on ethics and economics funded by the John Templeton Foundation and administered through the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research. Participants came from the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities, and included Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and other figures such as Frans de Waal, Herbert Gintis, Robert Frank, and Robert Solomon (for whom the book is dedicated in memoriam). The book’s editor, Paul Zak, is a pioneer in the emerging field of neuroeconomics, which uses medical technology to discover the physiological manifestations of cooperative and altruistic behavior. A theme of …

Crop Bioengineering: Enormous Potential For Catalyzing International Development, Peter Gregory, Stanley P. Kowalski

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] Bioengineering provides unique and dramatic opportunities for crop improvement. It can be used to develop crop varieties that would otherwise be unavailable and can facilitate much faster and more precise ways of developing improved varieties. It can help to increase yields and reliability and thus reduce food costs for the consumer while helping to control input costs for farmers through reduced applications of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizer.

The extent to which this will be achieved depends on how effectively the global scientific community – including both the public and private sectors – can cooperate in harnessing the power of …

Multifactor Productivity And Idea Transmission Channels In The Malaysian Economy, Ester Shen Ai Chan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper examines the contribution of multifactor productivity (MFP) growth to output per worker growth in Malaysia from 1961-2000. MFP growth is found to contribute about 74 percent to output per worker growth from 1987-2000, but has only minimal or negative contribution to growth in the earlier years. This paper then attempts to explain why MFP growth has such a large contribution to output per worker growth in the period 1987-2000 by looking at international trade as channel of technology or idea transfer from the G5 countries into Malaysia. MFP grows because ideas from these advanced nations are transferred into …

Growth Is Good For Whom, When, How? Economic Growth And Poverty Reduction In Exceptional Cases, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Economic growth and liberal economic policies often help the poor, but what about the numerous cases in which they do not? This article analyzes two types of cases: those in which income growth of the poor was significantly lower than expectations (negative exceptions) and those in which income growth of the poor significantly exceeded expectations (positive exceptions). Insights from these cases inform our theoretical understanding of poverty reduction. In addition, this article contributes a typology of strategies used in these cases, including alternative pathways to economic growth and neoliberal prescriptions for poverty reduction.

Economic Reforms And Total Factor Productivity Growth In Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis, Muhammad Sabir, Qazi Masood Ahmed

Business Review

This paper compares the average growth rates in GDP, factor inputs and total factor productivity during pre-reform period 1972-73 to 1987-88 and the reform period 1987-88 to 2001-02 and summarizes the historical patterns. Particular attention is given to assessing the impact of structural adjustment policies on total productivity growth directly and indirectly through other determinants of total factor productivity growth, such as human capital etc.

Michigan Socioeconomic Conditions And Trends: West Michigan Compared To East Michigan, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Privatization On Economic Growth And Income Inequality In Developing Countries, Samuel Adams

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

In the 1960s and 1970s academicians, economists and politicians favored state ownership over private ownership in the production and provision of goods and services. By the end of the 1980s, however, there was a reversal of public policy from state domination of the production and provision of goods and services to private ownership and operation. This was due in part to what the World Bank referred to as "state failure”, which was characterized by inefficient service delivery, unprofitable SOEs, high government debt, and stagnant economic growth rates. Accordingly, privatization caught on in many countries as a policy tool to foster …

Capital Flight And Economic Performance, Edsel L. Beja Jr

Economics Department Faculty Publications

Capital flight aggravates resource constraints and contributes to undermine longterm economic growth. Counterfactual calculations on the Philippines suggest that capital flight contributed to lower the quality of long-term economic growth. Sustained capital flight over three decades means that capital flight had a role for the Philippines to lose the opportunities to achieve economic takeoff. Unless decisive policy actions are taken up to address enduring capital flight and manage the macroeconomy more effectively, the Philippines remains caught in the perpetuity of crises, its economy hollowed-out, the people trapped in poverty, and once again, the country is frustrated from realizing a takeoff.

Capital Flight And Economic Performance: Growth Projections For The Philippines, Edsel L. Beja Jr

Economics Department Faculty Publications

Capital flight aggravates resource constraints and contributes to undermine longterm economic growth. Counterfactual calculations on the Philippines suggest that capital flight contributed to lower the quality of long-term economic growth. Sustained capital flight over three decades means that capital flight had a role for the Philippines to lose the opportunities to achieve economic takeoff. Unless decisive policy actions are taken up to address enduring capital flight and manage the macroeconomy more effectively, the Philippines remains caught in the perpetuity of crises, its economy hollowed-out, the people trapped in poverty, and once again, the country is frustrated from realizing a takeoff.

Business Output And Business Experience: Evidence From China's Nongovernmental Businesses, Liangjun Su

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study the application of the Solow growth model in China's non-governmental businesses and propose a reasonable modification for it. Our analysis indicates that business experience is closely tied to the output of China's non-governmental businesses. Our major findings include: (1) the business experience has little overall impact on the elasticity of output with respect to labour; (2) the business experience has a large impact on the elasticity of output with respect to capital and the elasticity increases as the business experience increases; (3) the adjusted Solow residual that reflects technological progress exhibits a negative relationship with the business experience, …

Stock Prices And Economic Growth: Are They Related?, Peter J. Saunders, Koushik Ghosh

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

This paper investigates the relationship between economic growth and stock prices in the U.S. Quarterly data on NASDAQ, DJIA, S&P 500 and real GDP ranging from the first quarter of 1971 to the fourth quarter of 2005 are analyzed. Cointegration test results indicate that while RGDP and S&P 500 are not cointegrated, RGDP and NASDAQ appear to be cointegrated. VEC analyses of the RGDP and NASDAQ data indicate that in the short-run, RGDP has a positive impact on stock prices. Further Granger causality testing of the data indicates that RGDP Granger -causes both changes in DJIA and S&P 500.

Impact Of India's Economic Growth And The Changes Within Its Food Retail Landscape, Sunil Sharma

Honors College Theses

No abstract provided.

Do Imports Cause Economic Growth? A Time-Series Investigation Of The U.S. Data, Peter J. Saunders, Koushik Ghosh

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

This paper investigates the relationship between imports and economic growth in the US in the long run and the short run. Quarterly data ranging from the first quarter of 1970 to the fourth quarter of 2000 are used to investigate this relationship. Cointegration tests using Johansen's (] 988) technique are used to analyze the long run relationship between imports and economic growth (measured by nominal GDP). Test results indicate that imports and economic growth are related in the long run. The short run analysis of the data is conducted within vector error correction (VEC) testing framework. VEC rest results indicate …

The Impact Of Trade Liberalization On Growth, Unemployment, And Poverty In Bangladesh, Maha Z. Mirza

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Trade liberalization has been one of the major policy components of the governments of the developing countries in the recent decades. Bangladesh as many other developing nations, has adopted different measures of trade reform policies as an element of International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), as well as to be an integral part of the world wide trend of globalization. Such policy measures include the reduction/rationalization of tariff rate, simplification of import and export trade procedures, relaxation of restrictive trade policies, and reform of financial and monetary policies. Even though, the trade reform measures were anticipated to increase …

Government Expenditure And Economic Growth In Nigeria: A Disaggregated Approach., N. I. Akpan

Economic and Financial Review

The paper represents part of a larger research agenda to assess how fiscal policy influences economic growth in Nigeria. This paper attempts to assess the impact of government expenditure on economic growth in Nigeria by adopting a disaggregated approach to the study. The essence of the study is to determine the components of government expenditure that enhances growth, identify those that do not, and recommend that they should be cut or reduced to a bare minimum. The paper is broadly consistent with literature and it opens new grounds by focusing on the long-run impact of fiscal policy. The analytical framework …

Culture And Prosperity: The Truth About Markets—Why Some Nations Are Rich But Most Remain Poor (Book Review), Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

John Kay’s latest book offers an absorbing romp through the history of economic thought in the 20th century. Kay attempts to explain the complex reality of a modern market system rather than resorting to simplistic theorizing about it. Gone are perfectly rational traders, perfectly competitive markets, incentive compatibilities, low transaction costs, informational symmetries, and no externalities. Kay highlights problems and problem solving as the ubiquitous and historical strata through which markets in the West evolved.