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We study the evolution of topics in economics and their geographical specialization by analyzing 13,233 papers from seven top journals between 1985 and 2012 and their forward citations. The share of U.S. publications declines from 75% to 64% with a corresponding increase of the European share from 12% to 24%. We use topic modeling and document the evolution of the discipline over 27 years. We estimate, with a quasi‐structural model, the citation lag distribution for 18 different topics and three large geographical areas. The modal citation lag is about 6.7 years in the entire sample and 4.8 years for citations from the top 100 journals. We quantify (1) the home bias effect in citations, (2) how it fades away over time, (3) the long lasting impact of U.S. publications vis‐à‐vis other geographical areas, and (4) the higher speed of diffusion and faster obsolescence in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A shift of focus is discernible in the literature on industrial agglomeration and regional economic development in the post-Fordist/globalization context. In addition to economic factors, the new focus emphasizes the importance of social and cultural factors for the growth of new industrial agglomerations. However, despite the importance attached to the (natural) environment in writings on organizations, regions and economies over the last few years, the literature on industrial agglomeration continues to remain devoid of any substantial references to the environment. Attaining sustainability at the local/regional (see note) level requires, among other factors, collective effort by industrial organizations toward common goals including resource conservation, production efficiency, economic viability and social responsibility. This paper explores the possibilities for bridging the current gaps between regional planning policy and the requirements of ecosystem integrity and sustainable industrial development in the practical contexts provided by ‘eco-industrial parks’ (EIPs) and the Waterloo Industrial Network for Sustainability (WINS). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines news media coverage of hydraulic fracturing in Canada over a five-year period in five newspapers. Hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' has reenergized the North American oil and gas market. This technology has increased economic growth, but it also comes with unknown and uncertain environmental and public health risks. Regulation of the fracking industry varies globally. In Canada there are three provinces that engage in large volume fracking and four provinces that have placed a moratorium on fracking. This paper demonstrates that the Canadian fracking story is about five frames: water pollution, economic benefits, uncertain risks, moratoriums, and energy independence. There is a difference between coverage in the two national newspapers as well as a difference in national and provincial coverage. In Nova Scotia, where fracking is banned, the media focuses primarily on environmental issues and benefits to the local economy. In Saskatchewan, where fracking for oil is an essential part of the economy, the media focuses on economic benefits and downplays other frames. Overall, across the five papers, the media coverage is highly selective and focuses on particular stories about the economy or the environment, but not both. Quelle est la chronique de la fracturation hydraulique au Canada? Cet article fait état de la couverture médiatique liée à la fracturation hydraulique au Canada par cinq journaux sur une période de cinq ans. La fracturation hydraulique a revitalisé le marché nord-américain des hydrocarbures. Cette technologie favorise la croissance économique, mais comporte également des risques écologiques et sanitaires inconnus et incertains. La réglementation régissant l'industrie de la fracturation varie selon les pays. À l'échelle canadienne, trois provinces ont réalisé d'importantes opérations de fracturation et quatre provinces ont imposé un moratoire à la fracturation hydraulique. Cet article montre que le cadrage médiatique de la fracturation hydraulique repose sur cinq thématiques : la pollution hydrique, les retombées économiques, l'incertitude liée aux risques, les moratoires et la souveraineté énergétique. Le cadrage médiatique varie entre les deux journaux nationaux ainsi qu'entre les médias nationaux et provinciaux. En Nouvelle-Écosse, où la fracturation est interdite, les médias mettent l'accent sur les questions environnementales et les retombées pour l'économie locale. En Saskatchewan, où la fracturation pour extraire du pétrole joue un rôle économique primordial, les médias se concentrent sur les retombées économiques et minorent l'importance des autres thématiques. Dans l'ensemble, les cinq journaux appliquent un filtre sélectif dans le traitement du sujet et publient des reportages spécifiques portant sur l'économie ou sur l'environnement, mais pas les deux. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stochastic framework for coordination of macroeconomic policies is introduced in this paper. It is suggested that: (i) measures of policy accountability should allow for the climate of uncertainty that surrounds policy decisions, and (ii) most models of aggregate economic activity impose arbitrary specifications of uncertainty that do not appear to be empirically justifiable. Ambiguities in interpreting the Humphrey-Hawkins reports of policy authorities are sketched in section II; a proposal for maximizing the ex ante prospects of policy objectives is illustrated in section III; finally, nonstationary allocations of uncertainty are discussed in sections IV and V. This paper provides a brief survey of ongoing work by members of the Federal Reserve Board staff on the role of uncertainty in policy forecasts. It suggests that policy discussion could be improved by more explicit consideration of the allocation of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on a paper published within the issue, "Capital Formation and the Recent Productivity Slowdown," by Peter Clark. The author also discusses results from his own research in "Accounting for United States Economic Growth, 1929-1969," and applies it to Clark's paper. It is suggested that an abrupt rise in energy prices may have affected growth rates during the mid-1970s. The author also looks at a similar analysis made by John Kendrick, who focuses on the U.S. postwar period of 1948-1966.

The relationship between foreign aid and economic growth has been the subject of much controversy. A recent theme suggesting that aid promotes growth, but only in a good policy environment has ratchet up that debate. In this paper, we assess the importance of policy and aid in generating growth when the aid, policy, and growth relationship is nonlinear. This allows us to examine the varying effects of aid and policy in different data segments, which we do without imposing any particular structure on the underlying relationship. We find that policy is an important determinant of growth. We also find partial corroboration of the view that aid is growth enhancing in a good policy environment, and some evidence of diminishing returns to aid. These findings suggest that nonlinearities if not appropriately addressed fail to capture the detailed underlying dynamics and thereby mask some key features of the aid-policy-growth relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a general equilibrium model of a developing economy with a capital intensive formal sector and a large informal sector with sector-specific capital to analyse the effects of investments on the sectoral returns to capital, sectoral wage rates, and composition of output and employment. Beginning with capital market disequilibrium (unequal sectoral rates of return) and labour market distortion (formal-informal wage gap), the model traces the evolution of the economy till capital market equilibrium is attained. The investments in the formal sector equalise the wages (a 'turning point' in growth à la Lewis) and reduces the size of the informal sector. The sectoral rates of returns equalise only if there is no factor intensity reversal, otherwise the economy specialises in the production of formal goods. The investments in the informal sector equalise the rates of return, do not affect the size of the formal sector and finally, a formal-informal wage gap persists provided factor intensities are not reversed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My impressions of inframarginal economics are: • It is best interpreted as providing underlying support for marginal economics. • Inframarginalists take as self-evident that division of labour and specialisation economies are paramount in economic progress. To justify this, inframarginalists need to develop the empirical side of their field. • Inframarginalists make insufficient use of computers. They specify stylised models, omitting many real-world phenomena that are routinely included in models computed for applied work. Inframarginalists seem wedded to analytical solutions. • Inframarginalists write papers mainly for inframarginalists. They need to demonstrate the value of their work by making it relevant to others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying Burgstaller's Ricardian two-sector growth model to the two-country open economy, this paper shows that the long-run Heckscher–Ohlin theorem holds also in a Ricardian world. In addition it is shown that, if two Ricardian countries that are different only in their demand parameters open trade, comparative advantage and the corresponding trade pattern at trade opening continue in the long run after the opening of trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the UK productivity puzzle using new data on outputs and inputs and clarifying the role of output mismeasurement, input growth and industry effects. Our data indicate an implied labour productivity gap of 13 percentage points in 2011 relative to the productivity level on pre‐recession trends. We find that: (a) the labour productivity puzzle is a TFP puzzle, since it is not explained by the contributions of labour or capital services; (b) the reallocation of labour between industries deepens rather than explains the puzzle (i.e. there has been a reallocation of hours away from low‐productivity industries and toward high productivity industries); (c) capitalization of R&D does not explain the productivity puzzle; (d) assuming increased scrapping rates since the recession, a 25% (50%) increase in depreciation rates post‐2009 can potentially explain 15% (31%) of the productivity puzzle; (e) industry data show that 35% of the TFP puzzle can be explained by weak TFP growth in the oil & gas and finance sectors; and (f) cyclical effects via factor utilization could potentially explain 17% of the productivity puzzle. Continued weakness in finance would suggest a future lowering of TFP growth to around 0.8% p.a. from a baseline of 0.9% p.a. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effectiveness of debt relief to stimulate economic growth in the most heavily indebted poor countries. We develop a neoclassical framework with a conflict of interest between the altruistic donor and the recipient government, and model conditionality as an imperfectly enforceable dynamic contract. In contrast to the recent practice of fully cancelling debt, optimal incentive‐compatible conditionality is accompanied by a concessionality level that implies a combination of subsidized loans and outright grants. The optimal concessionality level depends on the recipient's access to international financial markets and on the strength of the conflict of interest. Incentive‐compatible transfers with optimal concessionality levels generate substantial welfare gains. If the donor does not implement the optimal concessionality level and provides subsidized loans only, then the effectiveness of transfers decreases in the long run with severe welfare implications. In contrast, transfers are less effective in the short run if the donor offers outright grants only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertility and per capita income are now positively associated across most high income OECD countries. Low fertility and a gender wage gap persist in Japan. This paper presents a model where endogenous increases in the price of child-care and gender equity in the allocation of capital play important roles in the effect of per capita income growth and rising female relative wages on fertility. Results indicate that a positive relationship between fertility and per capita income is not robust: overall fertility rises with female relative wages if child-care productivity is sufficiently high; female relative wages may not rise with per capita income if men work with increasing capital relative to women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the impact of home military spending and foreign military threat on economic growth in a stochastic endogenous growth model involving the supply-side and demand-side effects produced by military spending. The paper states that an increase in home military spending affects economic growth through three channels, including the crowding-out effect, the spin-off effect, and the resource mobilization effect. The net effect which depends on these three channels is ambiguous. Hence, we demonstrate that there exists an optimal defence burden that maximizes the economic growth rate. Furthermore, the optimal defence burden depends on the degree of risk preference. Namely, the optimal defence burden of the risk-loving agent is more than that of the risk-neutral agent, and in turn is more than that of the risk-averse agent. At the same time, we prove that the relationship between the volatility in military spending and economic growth also depends on the degree of risk preference. In addition, we show that greater volatility in foreign military spending leads to a decrease in home aggregate consumption, and hence speeds up economic growth in the home country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effect of federalism on fertility and growth. In a model with human capital accumulation and endogenous fertility, two regimes of education finance are compared: central and local. I find that local education finance yields higher growth at the price of increased inequality. The effect of federalism on total and differential fertility rates depends on the elasticity of substitution between children and consumption. The paper also empirically examines the relationship between fertility rates and fiscal decentralisation on a panel of OECD countries and finds a weak negative effect of decentralisation on total and differential (poor minus rich) fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scope of the paper is limited by focusing on developing countries in the context of the world economy. We mostly consider the effects of globalization on income levels and a country's rate of economic growth. This focus is supported by studies (Ravallion; Bourguignon) that find that the level of income and expenditures across a continuum of household income categories is positively associated with economic growth, although wealthy households may benefit more than those with lower income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work discussed in Bivand and Brunstad (2003 ) was an attempt to throw light on apparent variability in regional convergence in relation to agriculture as a sector subject to powerful political measures, in Western Europe, 1989–1999. The present study takes up a number of points made in conclusion in that paper. Since it is possible that the non-stationarity found there is related to further missing variables, including the inadequacy of the way in which agricultural subsidies are represented, we attempt to replace the agriculture variables with better estimates of producer subsidy equivalents. It is also sensible to check that agricultural support is not masking or masked by other variables, for example human capital. The article is also an account of the development of software contributed to the project ( Development Core Team, 2005 ) as packages, in particular the spdep package for spatial econometrics. New functions generously contributed by researchers will be presented and compared. We find that agricultural support does impact regional economic growth after human capital is taken into consideration, and that we can show that apparent non-stationarity is alleviated by adding these variables.We further find that the moderated remaining spatial autocorrelation can best be represented by a substantive spatial lag model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical evidence is scarce on whether firms set profit‐maximizing prices, as these typically depend delicately on details of difficult‐to‐observe strategic interactions. To avoid this problem, this paper provides a detailed case study of the Swedish Tobacco Monopoly's pricing with data from 1916 to 1959. Prices are found to be below those that maximize the expected net present value of profits. However, the difference between actual and optimal price diminishes over time, and towards the end of the period the two are almost indistinguishable. The net present value of actual profits is approximately 60% of what could have been obtained. Overall, the pricing patterns appear more consistent with the firm learning about demand conditions than being the result of maximization of something other than profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the impact of the economic growth in Cote d'Ivoire on the poor people. We use household data from two LSMS (1992 and 2002) led by the National Statistical Office of Côte d'Ivoire. We show that the situation in this country is characterized by a trickle-down growth: the poverty growth curve and the growth incidence curve computed show that growth reduces poverty but the poor people receive proportionally fewer benefits than the non-poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Summer Olympics bring hundreds of thousands of visitors and generate upward of $10 billion in spending for the host city. This large influx of tourism dollars is only part of the overall impact of hosting the Olympic Games. In order to host the visitors and sporting events, cities must make sizable investments in infrastructure such as airports, arenas, and highways. Additionally, the publicity and international exposure of a host city may benefit international trade and capital flows. Proponents argue that this investment will pay off through increased economic growth, but research confirming these claims is lacking. This paper examines whether hosting an Olympiad improves a city's long-term growth. In order to control for the self-selection of cities that host Olympic Games, this paper matches Olympic host cities with cities that were finalists for the Olympic Games, but were not selected by the International Olympic Committee. A difference-in-difference estimator examines post-Olympic impacts for host cities between 1950 and 2005. Regression results provide no long-term impacts of hosting an Olympics on two measures of population, real Gross Domestic Product per capita and trade openness. ( JEL O18, R11) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how a nuclear power corporation integrates sustainability into corporate strategies and practices. The case study focuses on one of the world's largest nuclear power generators and describes the corporate capture of sustainable development in its strategic efforts to promote a growth strategy. The paper shows how corporate strategies to address sustainability concerns involve managing different stakeholders, enabling the corporation to sustain its economic growth strategy. Three types of stakeholder management strategy are identified: reinforcement strategies for supportive stakeholders, containment strategies for obstructive stakeholders and stabilization strategies for passive stakeholders. The paper argues that, despite claims of sustainable development in the nuclear industry, there is no significant shift in the 'business as usual' approach and that sustainable development is merely reframed as sustainable growth. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the impact of water sector privatization in Colombia on access, price and water quality, as well as health outcomes using differences-in-differences methodology. The main findings of the impact of water privatization are: (i) an improvement in the quality of water and an increase in the frequency of the service in privatized urban municipalities for the lower quintiles; (ii) a positive effect on health outcomes in both urban and rural areas; (iii) a negative effect on payment for the lower quintiles; and (iv) strong negative effects on access to water in rural areas. Some of these effects appear in municipalities with better technical capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The theory of endogenous growth and the geography and growth synthesis both consider that local growth and spatial concentration of economic activities emanate from localised knowledge spillovers ( Lucas 1988 ; Martin and Ottaviano 1999 ). Since the end of the 1980's, the spatial dimension of knowledge diffusion has been investigated from an empirical point of view, and the existence and role of local spillovers has been generally confirmed (see among others Jaffe 1989 ; Audretsch and Feldman 1996 ). The concern that now arises is to unravel the mechanisms underlying and explaining the geographical knowledge spillovers. The aim of this special issue is to present the latest new findings on such questions and to identify some new lines of research for future work. Before presenting the content of this special issue, we very briefly review the main results of the empirical literature on the geography of innovation. We also explain the context of this special issue by pointing out some of the limitations faced by this literature and, by stressing the complex dynamic and network dimensions of the observed processes of production and diffusion of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Casino gambling is a popular form of entertainment and is purported to have positive effects on host economies. The industry surely affects local labor markets and tax revenues. However, there has been little evidence on the effects of casino gambling on state economic growth. This paper examines that relationship using Granger-causality analysis modified for use with panel data. Our results indicate that there is no Granger-causal relationship between real casino revenues and real per capita income at the state level. The results are based on annual data from 1991 to 2005. These findings contradict an earlier study that found that casino revenues Granger-cause economic growth, using quarterly data from 1991 to 1996. Possible explanations for the differences in short-and long-run effects are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capacity utilization is a closely watched macroeconomic indicator because rising utilization may signal rising inflationary pressures. However, recent technological changes have increased the flexibility of relationships between inputs and outputs, potentially eroding the predictive value of the utilization rate. This paper examines relationships between technology, capital spending, and capacity utilization. After establishing conceptually that the effect of recent technological changes on capacity utilization is ambiguous, we investigate the effect empirically using panel data on 111 manufacturing industries. Our results suggest that, for the average industry, the technological change of the 1974–2000 period lowered capacity utilization by 0.2–2.3 percentage points. ( JEL D24, E22, E31) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T.W. Schultz's theory of entrepreneurship is among his least known, but most interesting, contributions. While entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as important for economic organization and development, it is not a major component of the economist's day-to-day toolkit. This paper describes Schultz's approach and compares it to other concepts of entrepreneurship in economics and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the applicability of the Nelson-Phelps approach to the modelling of human capital in economic growth for the sample of OECD countries. A case is made for confining the approach to the technology diffusion component and for combining it with the Lucas approach. For such a hybrid model, both the favoured interpretation of the Nelson-Phelps approach, as well as the Lucas approach, are supported by the evidence. The sensitivity of the findings is assessed with regard to the use of alternative human capital data sets, including quality (adjusted) measures, and with regard to data outliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There has been a longstanding controversy over the use of net versus gross measures of national product in accounting for economic growth, most recently reflected in several papers which have examined the role of environmental variables. It is argued in this paper that the two measures are not substitutes, but complements which reveal different aspects of the growth process: gross product is the correct output concept for estimating the structure of production, while net product is the correct concept for measuring the welfare consequences of economic growth. An alternative to the conventional Solow growth accounting framework is then presented in which the change in national wealth is decomposed into its component elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economics literature typically uses counts of casualties as a measure of conflict intensity despite the fact that the units of observation vary considerably in population size. When analysing the impact of conflict on economic growth, the use of counts relies on the assumption that a given number of casualties affects large and small populations in the same way. Using within- and between-country evidence, this paper demonstrates that this standard assumption can be rejected. A per capita model of conflict intensity that captures local effects of violence provides a more consistent empirical framework for both between-country and within-country studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses an instrumental variables approach to estimate the relationship between trade openness and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Instrumental variables estimates show that economic growth has a significant negative contemporaneous effect on trade openness, while trade openness has a significant positive effect on economic growth. A 1 percentage point increase in the ratio of trade over GDP is associated with a short-run increase in growth of approximately 0.5% in a given year; the cumulative long-run effect on the level of GDP per capita is larger, reaching about 2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among low- and middle-income countries, there is evidence that populations experiencing rapid political and economic transition have particularly high burdens of disease and disability from mental health conditions. This paper undertakes a political economy analysis of mental health in Vietnam to enhance knowledge translation, notably how both explicit and tacit knowledge can be used to promote evidence-based policy making. It argues that Vietnam's experience illustrates the need to better understand, not only how transition transforms societies, but how it impacts on the mental health needs and care of populations. The political economy of transition in Vietnam has so far given highest priority to economic growth through integration with the world economy and public sector reform. There is a need to recognise that transition in Vietnam poses both a potential threat to the care of people with mental health needs, and an opportunity to develop mental health services appropriate to local contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work suggests that financial development is important for economic growth, since financial markets more effectively allocate capital to firms with high value projects. For firms in poorly developed financial markets, implicit borrowing in the form of trade credit may provide an alternative source of funds. We show that industries with higher dependence on trade credit financing exhibit higher rates of growth in countries with weaker financial institutions. Furthermore, consistent with barriers to trade credit access among young firms, we show that most of the effect that we report comes from growth in the size of preexisting firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We determine the properties of the core-periphery model with three regions and compare our results with those of the standard 2-region model. The conditions for the stability of dispersion and concentration are established. As in the 2-region model, dispersion and concentration can be simultaneously stable. We show that the 3-region (2-region) model favours the concentration (dispersion) of economic activity. Furthermore, we provide some results for the n-region model. We show that the stability of concentration of the 2-region model implies that of any model with an even number of regions. Determinamos las propiedades de un modelo núcleo-periferia de tres regiones y comparamos nuestros resultados con los del modelo estándar de dos regiones. Se establecen las condiciones para la estabilidad de la dispersión y la concentración. Al igual que en el modelo de dos regiones, la dispersión y la concentración pueden ser estables simultáneamente. Mostramos que el modelo de tres regiones (dos regiones) favorece la concentración (dispersión) de la actividad económica. Además, aportamos algunos resultados para un modelo n-regional. Mostramos que la estabilidad de la concentración del modelo bi-regional implica eso mismo de cualquier modelo con un número par de regiones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of humanitarian aid on fertility and economic growth. In an overlapping generations model, where health status in adulthood depends on health in childhood, adult agents allocate their time to work, leisure and childrearing activities. Humanitarian aid influences the probability of survival to adulthood, health in childhood, and the time that adults allocate to childrearing, giving rise to an ambiguous effect on both fertility and growth. An empirical investigation for the period 1973-2007 suggests that humanitarian aid has on average a zero effect on the rates of fertility and of per capita output growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robbins argues that the fundamental propositions of microeconomic theory are deductions from the assumption that individuals act on consistent preferences; this ‘indisputable fact of experience’ does not need to be validated in controlled experiments. While recognising that some neoclassical pioneers based the theory on psychological hedonism, Robbins claims that his own approach of ‘pure theory’ belongs to a parallel and sounder tradition exemplified by Menger and Wicksteed. This paper argues that Robbins' methodological defence of pure theory is incoherent, and that his claim to find an intellectual lineage in the works of Menger and Wicksteed overlooks important discontinuities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Lionel Robbins' critical attitude towards formal empirical work from the standpoint of modern econometrics. It argues that his attitude towards empirical work rested on indefensible assumptions and that he failed to realise that the role he saw for empirical work undermined his belief in the primacy of economic theory. This matters because Robbins' attitudes are echoed in modern economics, best exemplified by the calibration methodology of Kydland and Prescott, which is vulnerable to similar criticisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a new measure of dependence or jointness among explanatory variables. Jointness is based on the joint posterior distribution of variables over the model space, thereby taking model uncertainty into account. By looking beyond marginal measures of variable importance, jointness reveals generally unknown forms of dependence. Positive jointness implies that regressors are complements, representing distinct but mutually reinforcing effects. Negative jointness implies that explanatory variables are substitutes and capture similar underlying effects. In a cross-country dataset we show that jointness among 67 determinants of growth is important, affecting inference and informing economic policy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the main viewpoints of some historical schools related with the theories on factors of production. Also, we analyse the problems associated with the present theories related to the factors of production and then, introduce some new developments. These new developments which are associated with the theory connected to the six forces of factor of production are described. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper we report the results of an experiment designed to study the behavior of a laboratory macroeconomy with two stable steady states. The economy has the structure of an optimal growth model in which resources are allocated between consumption and investment over a sequence of time periods. The economy is decentralized, with a market for capital in operation. We find that the economy often falls into the Pareto-inferior steady state, which can be viewed as a poverty trap. The initial endowment of capital stock is varied as a treatment variable in the experiment, and the economy is more likely to reach the optimal steady state when its initial endowment is high than when it is low. Organizing the economy with a central planner directing economic activity fails to induce it to reach the optimal steady state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the optimal mode of public finance depends on the level of economic development. The theoretical analysis suggests that in the presence of capital market imperfection and liquidity shocks, the detrimental effect of inflation on growth is stronger (weaker) at lower (higher) levels of economic development. Consequently, income taxation (seigniorage) is a relatively less distortionary way of financing public expenditure for low-income (high-income) countries. We provide empirical support for our model’s predictions using a panel of 21 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and 40 developing countries observed over the period 1972–1999. ( JEL E44, E6, H6, O42) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Bayesian Model Averaging, we examine whether inflation's effects on economic growth are robust to model uncertainty across numerous specifications. Cross-sectional data provide little evidence of a robust inflation-growth relationship, even after allowing for non-linear effects. Panel data with fixed effects suggest inflation is one of the more robust variables affecting growth, and non-linear results suggest that high inflation observations drive the results. However, this robustness is lost when estimation is carried out with instrumental variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article cites a study that examines the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on agriculture that emerged as a critical element in the postponed Doha Development Agenda. Particularly, this paper aims to examine the potential implications of complete trade reform. These will then be used as a benchmark against which to evaluate options within the parameters agreed at the WTO in August 2004. Results show that agricultural trade reform is potentially more important as a source of gains to the world than reform of the much bigger nonagricultural merchandise sector.

This research note reconsiders China’s recent growth experience from an institutional convergence perspective. Based on the neoclassical production function of growth, a stochastic growth model incorporating an institutional variable is specified and estimated using cross-province socioeconomic data for 1984–2001. While three explanatory variables all contribute to growth, the most significant and important effect comes from the variable of institutional progress. This suggests that China’s good economic performance since 1978 can be attributed to the convergence of China’s economic institutions with the economic institutions of modern capitalist economies, particularly the East Asian capitalist economies. If this suggestion is accepted, then China’s newly emerging regionalism can be better understood as resulting from an uneven institutional convergence process in a spatial context. These results are different from those of conventional Chinese regional development studies. They are important because they represent the first detailed evidence on the role of institutional effects in a Chinese regional economic study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The imperative to engage with communities and employ a community development approach is an integral part of the national agenda under New Labour. However, a large part of the literature and experience that informs contemporary policy and practice draws on the urban realm. This paper draws on the evaluation of a rural Health Action Zone to explore the extent to which national policy can facilitate local approaches to community health development within a rural context. Despite avowed support for innovation and evidence-based learning, it finds a continued emphasis on consensual tactics, low-cost solutions and traditional methods of ranking deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the contemporary interest in growth, conventional measures of economic growth (changes in real GDP or real GDP per capita) may be less preferable than a measure that is more plutological by design. The plutological measure presented in this paper is that of ). While Smith's work pre-dated formal national income accounting, there was a macroeconomic accounting scheme implicit in his theorizing on economic growth. This study articulates Adam Smith's concept of national product (referred to as Smithian national product, or SNP). It uses current output data to compute SNP for a set of six African countries, and examines the growth experience of these countries when using SNP as opposed to the more conventional GDP measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a monetary version of the Uzawa (1965)-Lucas (1988) model of endogenous growth, this paper illustrates how a credible policy of rapid disinflation can induce temporary declines in employment and output, with the former exhibiting a significant degree of persistance; however, these temporary declines in employment and output are not associated with any nominal rigidities in the economy, and therefore do not represent dead-weight losses that occur along the transition path, but are instead a part of an optimal response to the policy change. The measured welfare benefits of disinflation are seen to be higher when the transition path is taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)