This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Looking at the facts : what we know about policy and growth from cross-country analysis

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Levine, Ross
Zervos, Sara

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

What has the profession learned from cross-country regressions about the links between long-run growth and indicators of fiscal, monetary, trade, financial, and exchange-rate policies? The authors find that: indicators of financial development are strongly associated with long-run growth; other individual policy indicators are only weakly linked to growth; and it is particularly difficult to find a consistent relationship between inflation and long-run growth. For example, the inclusion or exclusion of one or two countries (Nicaragua and Uganda) out of more than 100 countries in the sample can lead to reaching three quite different conclusions: (1) that only very high inflation is bad for growth; (2) that very high inflation in itself is not bad for growth, but small increases in inflation in moderate-inflation countries slow growth; or (3) that inflation is unrelated to growth. The connections between policy indicators and growth are quite sensitive to slight alterations in the right-hand-side variables and to small changes in the sample of countries. And the daunting array of methodological problems limiting the ability to interpret cross-country regressions implies that, at best, they suggest interesting empirical regularities. Cross-country regressions should not be used to predict by how much long-run growth will change when policies change. But beliefs about policy and growth that are not supported by cross-country evidence will tend to be viewed skeptically. So, future work on the policy-growth nexus should integrate broad cross-country analyses with country case studies and investigations of specific firms.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/1993/03/01/000009265_3961004084236/Rendered/PDF/multi_page.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 1115.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: 31 Mar 1993
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:1115

Contact details of provider:
Postal: 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433
Email:
Web page: http://www.worldbank.org/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Roula I. Yazigi).

Related research
Keywords: Governance Indicators; Economic Theory&Research; Economic Conditions and Volatility; Environmental Economics&Policies; Achieving Shared Growth;

Other versions of this item:

References listed on IDEAS
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. Kormendi, Roger C. & Meguire, Philip G., 1985. "Macroeconomic determinants of growth: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 141-163, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Easterly, William & Rebelo, Sérgio, 1994. "Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth: An Empirical Investigation," CEPR Discussion Papers 885, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Roubini, N. & Sala-I-Martin, X., 1991. "Financial development , the Trade Regime and Economic Growth," Papers 646, Yale - Economic Growth Center.
  4. Luis A. Rivera-Batiz & Paul M. Romer, 1990. "Economic Integration and Endogenous Growth," NBER Working Papers 3528, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Greenwood, Jeremy & Jovanovic, Boyan, 1990. "Financial Development, Growth, and the Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 1076-1107, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Larry E. Jones & Rodolfo Manuelli, 1990. "A Convex Model of Equilibrium Growth," NBER Working Papers 3241, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Fischer, Stanley, 1979. "Anticipations and the Nonneutrality of Money," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(2), pages 225-52, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. De Gregorio, Jose, 1992. "The effects of inflation on economic growth : Lessons from Latin America," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(2-3), pages 417-425, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1990. "Trade, Innovation, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 86-91, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Rebelo, Sergio, 1991. "Long-Run Policy Analysis and Long-Run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 500-521, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Mankiw, N Gregory & Romer, David & Weil, David N, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(2), pages 407-37, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Orphanides, Athanasios & Solow, Robert M., 1990. "Money, inflation and growth," Handbook of Monetary Economics, in: B. M. Friedman & F. H. Hahn (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 223-261 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Summers, Robert & Heston, Alan, 1988. "A New Set of International Comparisons of Real Product and Price Levels Estimates for 130 Countries, 1950-1985," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 34(1), pages 1-25, March.
  14. Bencivenga, V.R. & Smith, B.D., 1988. "Financial Intermediation And Endogenous Growth," RCER Working Papers 124, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER).
    Other versions:
Full references

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. Mwangi S. Kimenyi, 2006. "Economic Reforms and Pro-Poor Growth: Lessons for Africa and other Developing Regions and Economies in Transition," Working papers 2006-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. ZeinabPartow, 2005. "La Relación Inflación-Crecimiento: Un Resumen Con Algunas Implicaciones Para Colombia," BORRADORES DE ECONOMIA 003079, BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA. [Downloadable!]
  3. Martijn Brons & Henri L.F.M. de Groot & Peter Nijkamp, 1999. "Growth Effects of Fiscal Policies - A Comparative Analysis in a Multi-Country Context," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 99-042/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  4. Danila Serra, 2006. "Empirical determinants of corruption: A sensitivity analysis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 225-256, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Dehn, Jan, 2000. "The effects on growth of commodity price uncertainty and shocks," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2455, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  6. Palle Andersen & David Gruen, 1995. "Macroeconomic Policies and Growth," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp9507, Reserve Bank of Australia. [Downloadable!]
  7. Levine, Ross & Zervos, Sara, 1996. "Stock market development and long-run growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1582, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. B. Bosworth & S. M. Collins & Y. Chen, . "Accounting for Difference in Economic Growth," Discussion Papers 115, Brookings Institution International Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. M.Rosaria Alfano & A. Laura Baraldi, 2008. "The design of electoral rules and their impact on economic growth: the Italian case," Working Papers 3_2008, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy. [Downloadable!]
  10. Uwe Böwer & Catherine Guillemineau, 2006. "Determinants of business cycle synchronisation across euro area countries," Working Paper Series 587, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  11. Zeinab Partow, . "La Relación Inflación-Crecimiento: Un Resúmen con algunas Implicaciones para Colombia," Borradores de Economia 023, Banco de la Republica de Colombia. [Downloadable!]
  12. Rodrigo Suescún, 1995. "Growth Welfare Costs And Aggregate Fluctuations In Economies With Monetary Taxation," BORRADORES DE ECONOMIA 002774, BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? No RePEc service, like IDEAS, charges for the use or the display of bibliographic data.

This page was last updated on 2009-12-3.


This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.