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Costly Intermediation and the Poverty of Nations

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Author Info
Shankha Chakraborty () (University of Oregon Economics Department)
Amartya Lahiri () (University of California - Los Angeles Economics Department)

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Abstract

Distortions in private investment due to credit frictions, and in public investment due to corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies, have both been suggested as important factors in accounting for the cross-country per capita income distribution. We introduce two modifications to the standard one-sector neoclassical growth model to incorporate these distortions. The model is calibrated using data from 79 countries to examine the quantitative implication of these margins. We find that financial frictions account for less than 2% of the cross-country variation in relative income. Even accounting for mismeasurement, financial frictions can typically explain less than 5% of the income gap between the five richest and the five poorest countries in the world. Distortions in the public investment process, on the other hand, seem more promising. There is both more variation in the measured value of the public capital distortion and it can account for more than 25% of the income gap between the richest and poorest countries in our sample.

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Paper provided by University of Oregon Economics Department in its series University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers with number 2003-1.

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Length: 51
Date of creation: 01 Jan 2003
Date of revision: 01 Jan 2003
Handle: RePEc:ore:uoecwp:2003-1

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Related research
Keywords: Relative Income Agency Costs Credit Frictions Public Capital

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information
E13 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Neoclassical
O16 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment
O41 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Greenwood, Jeremy & Sanchez, Juan M & Wang, Cheng, 2007. "Financing Development: The Role of Information Costs," Staff General Research Papers 12848, Iowa State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Hung-ju Chen; Hsiao-tang Hsu, 2004. "The Role of Firm Size in Controlling Output Volatility during the Asian Financial Crisis," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 11, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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