What are the root causes of Africa's current state of under-development? Is it the long history of slave trade, or the legacy of extractive colonial institutions, or the fallout of malaria? We investigate the relative contributions of these factors using an instrumental variable approach. The...

This paper constructs a simple optimal monetary growth model in which an endogenous and variable rate of time preference provides a rational foundation for a Tobin-effect in a system where otherwise strong neoclassical assumptions (e.g., perfect foresight, an infinite planning horizon, and...

We examine the role of substitution from traditional to modern energy carriers and of differential rates of innovation in the use of each of these in Sweden from 1850 to 1950. We use a simple growth model with a nested CES production function and exogenous factor augmenting technological change...

In this study, we analyze the relationship between inflation and economic growth. To this end, we construct a model of endogenous growth with creative destruction, incorporating sticky prices due to menu costs. Inflation and deflation reduce the reward for innovation via menu cost payments and,...

This paper asserts that the endowments of production factors cause cross-country differences in GDP per capita by generating disparities in the sectoral composition. For that purpose, we characterize the dynamic equilibrium of a two-sector endogenous growth model with many consumption goods that...

The paper explains the large differences in cross-country productivity performance by modeling and testing the effects of social barriers to communication on productivity and capital accumulation. In an optimal growth model, social barriers to communication that impede the formation of knowledge...

The expansion in the supply of energy services over the last couple of centuries has reduced the apparent importance of energy in economic growth despite energy being an essential production input. We demonstrate this by developing a simple extension of the Solow growth model, which we use to...

This study examines the impact of two dimensions of the government, namely, size and quality, on two dimensions of the financial sector, size and efficiency, in a cross section of 71 economies. The study finds that while increased quality of the government as measured by governance and legal...

This article investigates whether female political representation affects economic growth. Panel estimates for 119 democracies using fixed effects specifications and a system generalized method of moments approach suggest that, over recent decades, countries with higher shares of women in...

The objective of this paper is to examine whether financial development leads to economic growth or vice versa in the small open economy of Malaysia. We argue that the results obtained from cross-sectional studies are not able to address this issue satisfactorily and highlight the importance of...