This paper shows that rising real estate prices reduce industry productivity, because they lead to a reallocation of capital and labor towards inefficient firms. I establish that the rise in real estate value during the US housing boom relaxes firms' financial constraints. Companies borrow...

"Besides export expansion, a growing middle class in Asia has contributed to the area's economic expansion, providing Asian countries with a window of opportunity to leap from low/middle income levels to high income levels. It may sound easy for these countries to run up the ladder of economic...

This volume is a collection of selected empirical studies on determinants of economic growth in Africa. Grouped into three parts, chapters examine the influence of financial sources and economic growth; sources of productivity growth; and prices, exchange rates and trade relationships with...