In this paper we develop a two-sector growth model of optimizing agents and apply this model to the data for the purpose of addressing the two interrelated questions that preoccupy the literature on development and growth accounting, namely: (1) What determines sustained growth and (2) What...

In a highly influential and thought provoking study, Hanushek, E.A., and Woessmann, L., (NBER Working Paper No.14633, 2009) provide evidence in favor of a strong causal effect of cognitive skills on growth. To quote: “… the simple premise that improving the schools can produce benefits in...

Introducing equilibrium unemployment to the solution of the intertemporal allocation of non-leisure time, we derive two wage-setting models which we estimate by panel data and cross-section regressions applied on aggregative data. The results support the empirical relation known as the...

In this paper we present a model of optimizing behavior in a two-sector, centrally planned, economy that faces a given interest rate and that is capable of generating sustainable growth. By allowing the model economy to benefit from innovations at the technology frontier through a simple process...

In this paper I simplify the modeling of transitional dynamics and empirically explain why so many developing economies have seen their per capita income diverge from that of most OECD economies. I also provide evidence that strongly supports conditional convergence among the sample considered...

Our aim in this paper is, first, to derive a model capable of explaining the stylized fact that fluctuations in labor market activities over the business cycle are primarily accommodated by changes in employment rather than in wages and, secondly, to test this model empirically. The model is...

In this paper we uncover a version of the uncovered interest parity condition nesting in a portfolio balance model of the consumption capital asset pricing variety. In particular, the model we present explains and supports the existence of quot;excess returnsquot; - returns in excess of those...

Questions regarding the volatility of the real exchange rate, its speed of adjustment to equilibrium, the direction and magnitude of permanent deviations from Purchasing Power Parity, and the relation between real exchange rates and interest rate differentials can all be addressed by models of...