A number of studies in the literature have recently explored the causes behind the European productivity slowdown from the mid-1990s onwards and the correlative increase in the productivity gap between Europe and the United States (e.g., van Ark et al, 2008; Maudos et al, 2008; van Ark and Inklaar,...

The phenomenon of population ageing and its influence on the economic growth of countries has long been the focus of major concern for both governments and the scientific community. Considering the scientific contributions that have been published on the matter in recent years, it seems timely...

This paper presents a survey of literature on the `resource curse', a puzzling empirical result that associates natural resource riches with lower economic growth. We show the main theories that attempt to explain the curse ? ranging from the structuralist theses of the 1950s to recent and more...

From the late 70s onwards, the literature has produced numerous studies, mostly for developing countries, relating exports and economic growth. Since several European Union (EU) countries face strong recessions in the sequence of the economic crisis and the related fiscal consolidation measures,...

We use an extensive dataset on occupational wages to measure the manufacturing skill premium and evaluate the importance of the main drivers in literature plus the effects of natural resources and institutions. Results, regarding a panel of 21 countries between 1987 and 2003, suggest the...

After a period of convergence where many perceived the country as a success case, Portugal’s economic performance proved to be disappointing in the last decade. In this study we focus on the relationship between technology and economic catching-up in order to answer to two major questions: (i)...

This study re-evaluates the impact of natural resources on growth using panel data and a factor-efficiency accounting framework. The resource-curse thesis is dismissed as capital efficiency is improved by geographically-concentrated natural resources, which hinder institutional quality in recent...

Given a panel of oil producing countries, we show that a higher oil concentration is associated with an increase in economic growth through capital efficiency in: (i) countries with medium and low income per head from East Asia & Pacific and Latin America & the Caribbean, classified as followers...

This study shows that the cross-section “curse” result found with oil abundance indicators for producing countries disappears in a panel estimation considering the most important growth factors. This happens even excluding institutional quality, which is hindered by oil and ores abundance in...

An important characteristic of the role of foreign trade in the technological catch-up of countries is the complementary nature of technological change and human capital formation. In this context, the level of education is likely to have a crucial impact on total factor productivity because it...