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AbstractWe explore the sources of economic growth in Sri Lanka for the period during which it implemented a liberalized trade policy. We first calculate the primal and dual total factor productivity growth (TFPG), and then evaluate the roles of FDI and exports in driving TFPG. Results show that the average annual primal TFPG for 1980–2019 is 2.1%, constituting 43% of output growth. The corresponding dual TFPG is 3.3%. This divergence between primal and dual calculations is due to market imperfections, regulations, government monopolies, and issues in national accounts compilations. Regression results show that FDI has been a significant driver of Sri Lanka’s TFPG. Moreover, we find that both factor accumulation and TFPG are important sources of output growth. This is the first study that calculates dual TFPG for Sri Lanka. It provides policymakers the direction for implementing targeted policies to enhance Sri Lanka’s long-term growth prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effects of live-in foreign domestic workers (FDWs) on school children's educational outcomes using samples from two population censuses and a survey data set. The evidence consistently points to Filipino FDWs improving the educational outcomes of school children by decreasing their probability of late schooling or increasing their scores of core academic subjects. English-speaking ability and maturity are shown to be the most important assets of the Filipino FDW in improving children's educational outcomes. These findings suggest that FDWs provide an important childrearing service. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines how the rule of law and democratic accountability have affected Hong Kong’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in the past 20 yr. We find that democratic accountability has deteriorated substantially since the changeover of sovereignty in 1997, while the rule of law has remained strong and stable. Empirical results from autoregressive distributed lag bounds tests show a positive long-run relationship between growth and democratic accountability, and Granger causality tests reveal that democratic accountability causes the growth rate of GDP in the short run. These conclusions are robust to control for the effects of investment and the Asian financial crisis in 1997. ( JEL O18, O49, P17) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the role of financial development in economic growth. Empirical theory; Time-series and cross-country evidence; Correlation coefficients between private credit to gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP growth; Role played by the government and trade in financial development and economic growth.

This paper examines the causal effect of land use policy on employment growth in Chinese cities. We find that a stricter Floor Area Ratio Regulation (FARR) leads to a reduction in employment growth in Chinese cities-a one percentage point reduction in FARR leads to a concurrent reduction of employment growth by 1.0–1.5 percentage points. More populated cities and labour-intensive manufacturing industries are found to be more severely affected by stricter FARR. Moreover, the effect of a stricter FARR is found to be less pronounced on state-owned firms compared to foreign-owned and privately-owned firms. Our main conclusions are robust to a variety of sensitivity tests, different instruments and alternative estimators. They suggest that imposing a stricter legal FARR incurs considerable employment costs for Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]