Recent growth accounting studies of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea have found that the Solow residuals in these economies were relatively small. Given the high capital contributions, these results are often interpreted as evidence that factor accumulation, savings and investment...

We investigate the extent to which segmented labour markets in industrializing economies, generate productivity and GDP growth. The paper presents a Lewis type model in which an efficiency wage results in a productivity gap between the traditional and modern sectors. We find, first, that the...

Recent growth accounting studies of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea have found that the Solow residuals in these economies were relatively small. Given the high capital contributions, these results are often interpreted as evidence that factor accumulation, savings and investment...

This paper evaluates the effects of national and international eco-labelling programmes. It develops a model of consumer choice, where the production of an internationally traded commodity reduces the stock of a public ecological resource. In this model, eco-labels will result in damage levels...

In this paper we consider the effectiveness of eco-labels as a substitute for alternative, but trade-restrictive, environmental policies. Specifically, while there are concerns that eco-labelling requirements increase the cost of international trade, due to their potential for misuse as...

Recent growth theory has focused on the role of human capital as a source of welfare gains in developing economies, rather than traditional sources such as improving resource allocation and physical capital accumulation. This paper examines traditional developing-country labor market problems in...

This paper develops a method for interpreting growth accounting studies in terms of the neoclassical growth model. In particular it shows that the growth accounting contribution of capital reflects the distance of the economy from its steady state income level. The method is applied to studies...

To what extent did outbreaks of bubonic plague disrupt daily economic activity? We estimate the impact of epidemics on regional markets over four centuries – from the Black Death in the 14th th century, until the medieval form of the plague became extinct in the 17 th century. Despite the...

This paper develops a model of growth in an economy where the capital stock is rationed across labor inputs, as in the dual, or segmented, labor market literature on developing economies. In this economy, the increased use of labor in the formal sectors can sustain high marginal and average...

This paper examines how relative factor endowments and population growth rates affect growth rates in less developed countries. To answer these questions an extension of the Uzawa-Lucas endogenous growth model is used. The paper proves the existence and uniqueness and of the modified model and...