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A unified theory of the evolution of international income levels

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Author Info
Stephen L. Parente
Edward C. Prescott

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Abstract

This essay develops a theory of the evolution of international income levels. In particular, it augments the Hansen-Prescott theory of economic development with the Parente-Prescott theory of relative efficiencies and shows that the unified theory accounts for the evolution of international income levels over the last millennium. The essence of this unified theory is that a country starts to experience sustained increases in its living standard when production efficiency reaches a critical point. Countries reach this critical level of efficiency at different dates not because they have access to different stocks of knowledge, but rather because they differ in the amount of society-imposed constraints on the technology choices of their citizenry.

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Paper provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in its series Staff Report with number 333.

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Date of creation: 2004
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmsr:333

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Keywords: Income;

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  1. Stephen L. Parente & Edward C. Prescott, 1997. "Monopoly rights: a barrier to riches," Staff Report 236, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Roberto M Samaniego, 2004. "Does Employment Protection Inhibit Technical Diffusion?," Computing in Economics and Finance 2004 51, Society for Computational Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why Do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output per Worker than Others?," NBER Working Papers 6564, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Ellen R. McGrattan & Edward C. Prescott, 2004. "Taxes, Regulations, and the Value of U.S. and U.K. Corporations," Levine's Bibliography 122247000000000715, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  5. D. Gale Johnson, 2000. "Population, Food, and Knowledge," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 1-14, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1994. "Protection for Sale," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 833-50, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Herrendorf, Berthold & Teixeira, Arilton, 2003. "Monopoly Rights can Reduce Income Big Time," CEPR Discussion Papers 3854, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Gary S. Becker & Kevin M. Murphy & Robert F. Tamura, 1990. "Human Capital, Fertility, and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 3414, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Liwa Rachel Ngai, 2000. "Barriers and the Transition to Modern Growth," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 1578, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Stephen L. Parente & Edward C. Prescott, 2002. "Barriers to Riches," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262661306, January.
  11. Holmes, Thomas J. & Jr., James A. Schmitz, 2001. "A gain from trade: From unproductive to productive entrepreneurship," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 417-446, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. McDermott, John, 1999. " Mercantilism and Modern Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 55-80, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Berthold Herrendorf & Arilton Teixeira, 2004. "Monopoly rights can reduce income big time," Macroeconomics 0404023, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Alwyn Young, 2000. "The Razor'S Edge: Distortions And Incremental Reform In The People'S Republic Of China," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(4), pages 1091-1135, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Parente, Stephen L & Rios-Rull, Jose-Victor, 2005. "The Success and Failure of Reforms in Transition Economies," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(1), pages 23-42, February.
  16. Thomas J. Holmes & James A. Schmitz, Jr., 1995. "Resistance to new technology and trade between areas," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Win, pages 2-17. [Downloadable!]
  17. Klenow, Peter J. & Rodriguez-Clare, Andres, 1997. "Economic growth: A review essay," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 597-617, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Krusell, Per & Rios-Rull, Jose-Victor, 1996. "Vested Interests in a Positive Theory of Stagnation and Growth," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 63(2), pages 301-29, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. SchmitzJr, James A., 2001. "Government production of investment goods and aggregate labor productivity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 163-187, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Dowrick, Steve & Spencer, Barbara J, 1994. "Union Attitudes to Labor-Saving Innovation: When Are Unions Luddites?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(2), pages 316-44, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Alwyn Young, 2000. "The Razor's Edge: Distortions and Incremental Reform in the People's Republic of China," NBER Working Papers 7828, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Rui Zhao & Stephen L. Parente, 2004. "Path Dependence, Uneven Industrialization and Special Interests," 2004 Meeting Papers 273, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
  23. Oded Galor & David N. Weil, 2000. "Population, Technology, and Growth: From Malthusian Stagnation to the Demographic Transition and Beyond," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 806-828, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Thomas J. Holmes & James A. Schmitz, Jr., 1994. "Resistance to technology and trade between areas," Staff Report 184, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  25. Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-De-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "The Regulation Of Entry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(1), pages 1-37, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  26. Andreas Hornstein & Edward C. Prescott, 1989. "The firm and the plant in general equilibrium theory," Staff Report 126, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  27. Douglas Gollin, 2002. "Getting Income Shares Right," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 458-474, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  28. Tamura, R., 1991. "Fertility , Human Capital and the "Wealth of Nations"," Working Papers 91-17, University of Iowa, Department of Economics.
  29. Herrendorf, Berthold & Teixeira, Arilton, 2004. "Monopoly rights can reduce income big time," Research Discussion Papers 7/2004, Bank of Finland. [Downloadable!]
  30. Benjamin R. Bridgman & Igor D. Livshits & James C. MacGee, 2004. "For Sale: Barriers to Riches," University of Western Ontario, RBC Financial Group Economic Policy Research Institute Working Papers 20043, University of Western Ontario, RBC Financial Group Economic Policy Research Institute. [Downloadable!]
  31. Hendricks, Lutz, 2003. "Taxation and the intergenerational transmission of human capital," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 27(9), pages 1639-1662, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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