This paper proposes and tests new definitions of convergence and common trends for per capita output. We define convergence for a group of countries to mean that each country has identical long-run trends, either stochastic, while common trends allow for proportionality of the stochastic...

This paper examines the role of sectors in aggregate convergence for fourteen OECD countries during 1970-87. The major finding is that manufacturing shows little evidence of either labor productivity or multifactor productivity convergence, while other sectors, especially services, are driving...

Plant shutdowns shape industry productivity, the dynamics of employment, and industrial restructuring. Plant closures account for more than half of gross job destruction in U.S. manufacturing. This paper examines the effects of firm structure on U.S. manufacturing plant closures. Plants...

The authors examine whether convergence in aggregate productivity is also occurring at the industry level in fourteen OECD countries from 1970 to 1987. Using both cross-section and time-series methods, they find convergence in some sectors, such as services. However, surprisingly, the authors...

The empirical convergence literature envisages a world in which the presence or lack of convergence is a function of capital accumulation. This focus ignores a long tradition among economic historians and growth theorists which emphasizes technology and the potential for technology transfer. The...

Two otherwise identical firms that enter the same market in different months, one in January and one in December, will report dramatically different annual sales for the first calendar year of operations. This partial year effect in annual data leads to downward biased observations of the level...