Most macroeconomic models assume that aggregate output is generated by a specification for the production function with total physical capital as a key input. Implicitly this assumes that private and public capital stocks are perfect substitutes. In this paper we test this assumption by...

This paper augments the traditional growth accounting framework by including a common specification of investment adjustment costs, and uses the new framework to examine the past and likely future growth in nonfarm business output in the US. The inclusion of adjustment costs can have large...

We estimate the effect of political regime transitions on growth with semi-parametric methods, combining difference in differences with matching, that have not been used in macroeconomic settings. Our semi-parametric estimates suggest that previous parametric estimates may have seriously...

Productivity growth in the U.S. economy jumped during the second half of the 1990s, a resurgence that many analysts linked to information technology (IT). However, shortly after this consensus emerged, demand for IT products fell sharply, leading to a lively debate about the connection between...

The impact of mobile and fixed telephones on economic growth has been the subject of increasing scrutiny in the literature on economic development. It is even of interest to theoretical macroeconomists, as it provides a useful test of the positive network externalities that should be present if...

We posit that the relationship between income inequality and economic growth ismediated by the level of equality of opportunity, which we identify with intergenerationalmobility. In economies characterized by intergenerational rigidities, an increase in incomeinequality has persistent...

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Belize grew faster than its regional peers. By the mid-2000s, however, economic growth had slowed down to the regional average. A vicious circle of low growth and increasing public debt has been clouding Belize's outlook. This paper applies a growth diagnostic...

This paper develops a measure of intangible capital and examines the contribution of intangibles to labour productivity growth in the Canadian business sector. It applies the methodology developed by Corrado et al. (2005, 2009) for the United States. The paper finds that investment in...