This paper proposes an explicit test for determining the significance and the timing of slowdowns in economic growth. We examine a large sample of countries and find that a majority - though not all - exhibit a significant structural break in their postwar growth rates. We find that (a) most...

Ever since Nelson and Plosser (1982) found evidence in favor of the unit-root hypothesis for 13 long-term annual macro series, observed unit - root behavior has been equated with persistence in the economy. Perron (1989) questioned this interpretation, arguing instead that the "observed"...

We test for a unit root in postwar unemployment rates for sixteen OECD countries. When a one-time structural break is incorporated, the unit root hypothesis can be rejected for most of the countries and the measured persistence of unemployment falls dramatically. We then test for multiple...