One of the most interesting debates in modern economics centers around the question of whether integrating economies necessarily converge in terms of per capita income and technology. This debate is often believed to have been started by Thorstein Veblen in 1915. However, this paper demonstrates...

Understanding the factors determining economic growth has been a major concern for economists and governing bodies for many years. The Solow growth model and the endogenous growth models are the main theories tested and used in the growth literature. This paper discusses the main contributions...

Many papers have analyzed the factors affecting economic growth. However, these have concentrated on direct effects and ignored indirect effects through other variables in the model. This study investigates direct and indirect effects of various factors on growth with a causal growth model using...

Much has been written about how the Labor Department's unemployment rate understates the real level of joblessness. It does not include discouraged workers or those in part-time jobs who would prefer to have full-time work, and it also does not account for the changes in the age and gender of...

A good deal of controversy surrounds the empirical regularity of convergence. If capital’s share is taken to be 1/3, as in national accounts, then convergence should occur at a much faster rate than observed. Problems are worse if the economy is open. With perfect capital mobility convergence...

This study contributes to the literature by providing an empirical analysis of the determinants of marital and general happiness. The empirical analysis is conducted using US data from the General Social Survey (GSS) and an Ordered Probit Model. We also attempt to overcome the endogeneity...