The relative roles of factor inputs and productivity are estimated in explaining the level of economic development. For a large sample of countries, it is shown that international differences in factor inputs account for between two thirds and three quarters of international differences in...

This paper examines determinants of educational performance in the high performing East Asian economies of Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand by running within country regressions. The determinants considered include family background, school resources, and institutional...

Recent time series studies reject the hypothesis of catching up in terms of international per capita incomes as derived from the traditional neoclassical growth model. In turn, they seem to support new theories of economic growth which are capable of explaining persistent international...

There is surprisingly little macroeconomic empirical research which would support a presumed link between education and development. I identify three major reasons why it remains difficult to estimate the economic relevance of education as a determinant of growth and development. First, most...

We find a U-shaped relation between happiness and religiosity in cross-country panel data after controlling for income levels. At a given level of income, the same level of happiness can be reached with high and low levels of religiosity, but not with intermediate levels. A rise in income causes...

We find a U-shaped relation between happiness and religiosity in cross-country panel data after controlling for income levels. At a given level of income, the same level of happiness can be reached with high and low levels of religiosity, but not with intermediate levels. A rise in income causes...

Despite large rate of return differentials implied by persistent income differentials, relatively little capital flows to poor countries. The rate of return differentials are substantially reduced, however, if different human capital endowments are taken into account, as is shown for a limited...

Recent advances in the theory of economic growth have led to a large number of competing endogenous-growth models. The empirical evidence presented in this paper supports the Rebelo (1991) growth model with constant returns to scale and constant returns to aggregate capital. For reasonable...

Globalization improves the prospects for developing countries (DCs) to catch up economically with industrialized countries. Depending on economic policies with respect to openness and factor accumulation, globalization may increase capital and technology flows to DCs, thereby generating a higher...