This paper analyzes the political economy of the reform process theoretically and empirically.Building on the framework developed by Rodrik [1995], a two-sector model of a transition economy is constructed.This model is then used to study the dynamics of political support for the reforms.The key...

This paper reconsiders the ‘curse of resources’ hypothesis for the case of China, and distinguishes between resource abundance, resource rents, and resource dependence. Resource abundance and resource rents are shown to be approximately equivalent, and their association with resource...

The standard measure of productivity growth is the Solow residual.Its evaluation requires data on factor input shares or prices.Since these prices are presumed to match factor productivities, the standard procedure amounts to accepting at face value what is supposed to be measured.In this paper...

The productivity slowdown in Europe since the mid-1990s is a reason for concern. Labour market rigidity, hampering innovation, may be a cause of the slowdown. In the paper this argument is placed in a broader perspective. Labour force participation is an important factor in explaining...

This paper uses Bayesian stochastic frontier methods to measure the productivity gap between Poland and Western countries that existed before the beginning of the main Polish economic reform. Using data for 20 Western economies, Poland and Yugoslavia (1980-1990) we estimate a translog stochastic...

Debreu s coefficient of resource utilization is freed from individual data requirements.The procedure is shown to be equivalent to the imposition of Leontief preferences.The rate of growth of the modified Debreu coefficient and the Solow residual are shown to add up to TFP growth.This...

Manufacturing productivity growth recovered during the 1980s and 1990s, while other sectors, particularly services, did not. In the same period U.S. manufacturing has engaged in the "outsourcing" or "contracting-out" of service functions. Has the recovery of manufacturing been accomplished by...

Industry productivity is obtained by aggregation of firm productivities and inclusion of the appropriate allocative efficiency terms, one for each firm.This paper identifies the latter correction terms.

If more productive firms grow relatively fast, an industry performs better, even when no firm exhibits technical or efficiency change.In other words, the two well-known sources of productivity growth-technology and efficiency-can be augmented by a third one, namely the industrial organization...