Showing 1 - 10 of 14
Mark Weisbrot (2008) has claimed that under the Chávez administration in Venezuela the share of pro-poor spending has increased, inequality has declined, poverty has fallen rapidly, and there has been a massive reduction in illiteracy. All of these conclusions are based on the use of heavily...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005518219
This paper presents new evidence on the cross-country correlation between factor shares and per capita income. The evidence comes from UNIDO and OECD databases of industrial surveys designed to measure economic activity in the corporate manufacturing sector. We show that a statistically...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005649749
We evaluate the success of the Venezuelan government’s latest nationwide literacy program, Misión Robinson, using official Venezuelan government survey data. Controlling for existing trends in literacy rates by age groups over the period 1975 to 2005, we find at most a small positive effect...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005649750
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005649752
This paper presents a new empirical strategy for estimating the effects of trade policy on domestic factor prices when policy endogeneity is suspected. Absent income effectson factor supplies or domestic prices, the coefficient on the terms of trade can provide an unbiased estimator of the...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005121175
This paper presents an empirical test of a subclass of poverty traps hypotheses. The test is based on the observation that the nonconvexities in the production function necessary to generate multiple equilibria need only be present in the region between the equilibria. Increasing returns should...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005187236
This paper studies Venezuelan economic performance from 1950 to 1998. We show that there exist wide divergences in many commonly used estimates of GDP growth and discuss the sources of those differences. We show that the choice of base year and linking techniques are crucial for the diagnosis of...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005187237
We study episodes where economic growth decelerates to negative rates. While the majority of these episodes are of short duration, a substantial fraction last for a longer period of time than can be explained as the result of business-cycle dynamics. The duration, depth and associated output...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005187239
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005187240
This paper studies the evolution of Venezuelan economic institutions before the emergence of oil exploitation in 1920. We argue that by 1920 Venezuela had developed a highly centralized state and a professionalized military. These two institutions ensured that growing oil revenues would...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005187241