In this paper we develop a two-sector endogenous growth model with a dual labour market, based on efficiency wages. Growth is driven by intentional R&D performed in the high-tech and high-wage sector. It is examined how a change in rivalry among firms affects simultaneously growth and...

We study a cross-section of 54 European regions in the period 1950-1998. The central question is whether social capital, in the form of generalized trust and associational activity, is related to regional differences in economic growth. Based on extensive robustness tests, we present evidence...

Pooled regressions, first of eight and then of sixteen countries, show a steady and robust process of endogenous growth in Europe since 1870, interrupted only by the events of World War II and the impact of convergence towards US levels of performance in the 1950s and the 1960s. This result...