According to the Washington Consensus, developing countries’ growth would benefit from reductions in barriers to trade. However, the empirical basis for judging trade reforms is weak. Econometrics are mostly ad hoc; results are typically not judged against models; policies are poorly measured;...

This paper develops a dynamic theory that accounts for the evolution of trade policy, underlying internal class conflicts, and output growth performance over the last few centuries. By analyzing political responses to the distributional effects of international trade, it finds a prominent...

This contribution provides evidence for the hypothesis that trade increases growth through its curbing effect on capital taxes. The analysed mechanism includes two different steps and considers the critical points of both the theoretical and empirical studies in this field. In particular, the...

This paper derives a Frankel-Romer instrument from a global trade matrix of 157 countries over the period 1990-2007, and deploys it to assess the relationship between international trade, domestic market potential, and income for the case of developing Asia, compared to the world average. The...

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationships between tourism development and economic growth in developing countries using the newly developed heterogeneous panel co-integration technique. This study examines the causal relationship between tourism development and economic...

This paper studies the impact of the level and volatility of the commodity terms of trade on economic growth, as well as on the three main growth channels: total factor productivity, physical capital accumulation, and human capital acquisition. We use the standard system GMM approach as well as...

Does trade openness cause higher GDP per capita? Since the seminal instrumental variables (IV) estimates of Frankel and Romer [F&R](1999) important doubts have surfaced. Is the correlation spurious and driven by omitted geographical and institutional variables? In this paper, we generalize F&R's...

This paper analyzes the effects of foreign direct investment on the economic growth of developing countries. The study uses annual data on a group of 85 developing countries covering Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean for the period 1980-2007. We explore the hypothesis that...

This paper investigates the impact of trade openness on economic growth and development for a sample of 85 middle-income countries over the period 1970-2009. The paper employs non-stationary heterogeneous panel cointegration techniques that take into consideration the impact of cross-section...

Despite significant economic reforms in many Southern Mediterranean EU neighbour countries, their growth performance has on average been subdued. This study analyses the differences in growth performance and macroeconomic stability across Mediterranean countries, to draw lessons for the future....