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Growing Apart? A Tale of Two Republics: Estonia and Georgia

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  • Thorvaldur Gylfason
  • Eduard Hochreiter

Abstract

We compare and contrast the economic growth performance of Estonia and Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 in an attempt to understand better the extent to which the growth differential between the two countries can be traced to increased efficiency in the use of capital and other resources (intensive growth) as opposed to brute accumulation of capital (extensive growth). On the basis of a simple growth accounting exercise, we infer that advances in education at all levels, good governance, and institutional reforms have played a more significant role in raising economic output and efficiency in Estonia than in Georgia which remains marred by various problems related to weak governance in the public and private spheres.

Suggested Citation

  • Thorvaldur Gylfason & Eduard Hochreiter, 2008. "Growing Apart? A Tale of Two Republics: Estonia and Georgia," IMF Working Papers 2008/235, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2008/235
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    Cited by:

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    3. Kowalski, Tadeusz, 2013. "Globalization and Transformation in Central European Countries: The Case of Poland," MPRA Paper 59306, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Thorvaldur Gylfason & Eduard Hochreiter, 2011. "Growing Together: Croatia and Latvia," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 53(2), pages 165-197, June.
    5. Thorvaldur Gylfason & Eduard Hochreiter, 2023. "To Grow or Not to Grow: Belarus and Lithuania," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(1), pages 137-167, March.
    6. Zuzana Brixiova & Balázs Égert, 2010. "Modeling Institutions, Start-ups and Productivity during Transition," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 773, OECD Publishing.
    7. Tadeusz Kowalski, 2013. "Poland’s Long-term Macroeconomic Performance and Recent Trends: A Comparative Analysis," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(1), pages 41-56, May.
    8. Christan Bjørnskov & Miguel Ángel Borrella‐Mas & Martin Rode, 2022. "The economics of change and stability in social trust: Evidence from (and for) Catalan secession," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 275-297, July.
    9. , Aisdl, 2019. "Comparative Analysis of Trade Competitiveness between Bangladesh and Vietnam," OSF Preprints nxy4c, Center for Open Science.
    10. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2019. "Comparative Analysis of Trade Competitiveness between Bangladesh and Vietnam: Lessons for Bangladesh," OSF Preprints b7fkj, Center for Open Science.
    11. Thorvaldur Gylfason & Per Magnus Wijkman, 2012. "Which Conflicts can the European Neighbourhood Policy Help Resolve?," CESifo Working Paper Series 3861, CESifo.
    12. Thorvaldur Gylfason & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Per Magnus Wijkman, 2014. "Can and Should the EU's Eastern Partnership be Saved?," CESifo Working Paper Series 4869, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    WP; production function; gross national income; output ratio;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

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