We propose a new methodology to study the stability of steady-state growth. Long-run GDP per capita can be characterized by: (1) the linear trend hypothesis, where there are no long-run changes in GDP levels or growth rates, (2) the level shift hypothesis, where there are long-run level shifts,...

Tests for structural change play an important role in macroeconomics and international finance. We investigate the empirical performance of the Bai and Perron (1998) multiple structural change tests and show that the use of their critical values may cause severe size distortions in persistent...

This paper provides evidence on the unit root hypothesis and long-term growth by allowing for two structural breaks. We reject the unit root hypothesis for three-quarters of the countries approximately 50% more rejections than in models that allow for only one break. While about half of the...