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Determinants of Economic Growth: Will Data Tell?*

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  • Antonio Ciccone
  • Marek Jarociński

Abstract

Many factors inhibiting and facilitating economic growth have been suggested. Can agnostics rely on international income data to tell them which matter? We find that agnostic priors lead to conclusions that are sensitive to differences across available income estimates. For example, the PWT 6.2 revision of the 1960-1996 income estimates in the PWT 6.1 leads to substantial changes regarding the role of government, international trade, demography, and geography. We conclude that margins of error in international income estimates appear too large for agnostic growth empirics. (JEL O41, O47)

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Ciccone & Marek Jarociński, 2010. "Determinants of Economic Growth: Will Data Tell?," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 222-246, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:2:y:2010:i:4:p:222-46
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.2.4.222
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    Replication

    This item has been replicated by:
  • Martin Feldkircher & Stefan Zeugner, 2012. "The impact of data revisions on the robustness of growth determinants—a note on ‘determinants of economic growth: Will data tell?’," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 686-694, June.

    • More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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