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Patterns of international capital flows and their implications for developing countries

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  • Mika Nieminen

Abstract

According to a standard economic theory, capital should flow from rich capital-abundant countries to poor capital-scarce countries. However, a reverse pattern has prevailed in the world economy. This is the so-called Lucas paradox. In addition, it has been shown that counterintuitively there is negative correlation between capital inflow and productivity growth across developing countries. This is the so-called allocation puzzle. This survey attempts to shed light on the following questions: 1) What are the patterns of international capital flows in the world economy?

Suggested Citation

  • Mika Nieminen, 2017. "Patterns of international capital flows and their implications for developing countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-171, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
  • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2017-171
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