Based on required growth rate and actual growth rate, this paper proposes a method to construct measures to indicate the probability of a country escaping the middle income trap (MIT). A second contribution of this paper is to model this probability using 1960–2015 cross-country data, focusing...

Empirical tests in the 1990s found little evidence of poor countries catching up with rich - unconditional convergence - since the 1960s, and divergence over longer periods. This stylized fact spurred several developments in growth theory, including AK models, poverty trap models, and the...

Income convergence refers to the idea that poor countries grow more quickly than rich ones and catch up in terms of per capita income; as a result, the per capita income of integrated nations eventually converges. Beta convergence suggests that less developed nations grow more quickly than more...

This paper constructs annual GDP estimates for Ireland (1924-47) to join the first complete official aggregates. The new series is deployed to revisit Ireland's economic performance in the post-independence decades. Ireland's economy grew at 1.5 per cent per annum and average living standards...

This study investigates the economic growth and catch-up of the Republic of Korea over the past half-century. The gap of output per worker between the Republic of Korea and United States has decreased rapidly, as the Republic of Korea's lower per capita income, relative to its potential level,...

The paper analyses the potential contribution of services as a driving force of economic growth in developing countries within a Kaldorian framework. In doing so, we revisit Kaldor Growth Laws and econometrically test them for a number of economic activities (including four service branches)...

Emerging economies have an increasing influence on the global economy and there is general optimism regarding their prospects. However, given a sustained income gap between emerging and advanced economies, there is concern that many emerging economies will never match the advanced economies in...

This study explores China's economic growth performance and prospects in global and Asian comparative perspectives. Using a general framework of cross-country analysis, the study identifies and discusses major factors underlying China's strong growth over the past decades and those contributing...

The main goal of the study is to identify the scope and trends in the manufacturing development of Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the context of integration effectiveness, industrial policies quality and competitiveness growth. Under current...

We revisit Western Europe's record with labor-productivity convergence and tentatively extrapolate its implications for the future path of Eastern Europe. The poorer Western European countries caught up with the richer ones through both higher rates of physical capital accumulation and greater...