Empirical studies emphasising supply factors argue that poor countries as a whole show a catching up tendency of rich countries as a whole. We offer a demand side SAM model to highlight the convergence in economic growth. The model predicts, after adjusting for peculiarities of economic systems,...

The goal of this paper is to offer a non-technical interpretation of the “Great Divergence” and “Great Convergence” stories. After reviewing existing explanations in the literature, I offer a different interpretation. Western countries exited the Malthusian trap by destroying traditional...

This note deals with a paradox: A literature growing exponentially in spite of the fact that it keeps finding the same result. We draw upon the findings of 106 empirical studies, of which 32 appeared in the last 4 years, to examine whether development aid generates economic growth. The studies...

Using a Global database, stylized evidences are presented to show that Gini coefficient of income inequality varies across skill cohorts in all the regions. Also, starting from a relatively egalitarian income distribution, growth reduces inequality for the relatively unskilled cohorts for which...

Four stylised facts of aggregate economic growth are set up initially. The growth process is interpreted to represent transitional dynamics rather than balanced-growth equilibria. Against this background, the fundamental importance of subsistence consumption is comprehensively analysed....