This paper examines the empirical relationship between trade and total factor productivity (TFP) in South Africa. It uses (i) a time series approach where trade is defined in terms of aggregate outcomes, i.e., as the share of imports plus exports in GDP, and (ii) a cross sectional approach,...

Si bien ocho de cada diez asalariados trabajan en el sector privado, el sector público constituyó la principal fuente de creación neta de empleo en Ecuador durante la última década. Las presiones fiscales hoy en día invitan al sector privado a jugar un rol más destacado. En una economía...

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant adverse impact on the Tajik economy. Real GDP growth slowed to 4.2 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2020, compared to 7.2 percent a year earlier. Restrictions on labor mobility and economic activity at home and abroad resulted in lower...

Central America comprises a diverse set of countries, including two high-middle-income countries (Costa Rica and Panama), two of the poorest countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (Honduras and Nicaragua), and two middle-income economies (Guatemala and El Salvador). Low productivity and...

The spatial dimension of productivity and inclusive growth has moved to center stage. While the geographic concentration of economic activity has boosted productivity, growing disparities between prospering places and those left behind have polarized countries, while rapid urbanization has often...

This paper investigates the dynamics of productivity in a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms, focusing on the determinants of firm-level persistence in time of high total factor productivity (TFP) growth rates relative to the corresponding sectoral distributions. In particular, we...

This paper looks at the impact on Australia’s trade in crops (non-wheat grains and oilseeds) where GM technology has been introduced. The model includes assumptions about the productivity gains of GM crops, possible consumer responses and regulatory costs for Australia and its major trading...

We study the impact of providing school report cards with test scores on subsequent test scores, prices, and enrollment in markets with multiple public and private providers. A randomly selected half of our sample villages (markets) received report cards. This increased test scores by 0.11...