This paper addresses the complex relationship between geography and macroeconomic growth. We investigate the ways in which geography may matter directly for growth, controlling for economic policies and institutions, as well as the effects of geography on policy choices and institutions. We find...

The Israeli high tech sector is widely regarded as a hotbed of cutting-edge technologies, and as the growth engine of the Israeli economy in the nineties and beyond. In this paper we present a close-up portrait of innovation in Israel for the past 30 years, with the aid of highly detailed patent...

We address the issue of social distribution of an aggregate risk (on agricultural export price), in a macro-economic perspective. Individual incomes in representative social groups are computed as a function of export prices, which are assumed to be stochastic, using an applied general...

This paper explores the question whether and to what extent the economic relations between the Netherlands and its former colony Indonesia could be crucial to explaining `metropolitan' economic development and `peripheral' underdevelopment. It first surveys the literature on economic...

In dynamic models with multiple equilibria, a central question is how agents coordinate their expectations on a particular outcome. Many dynamic models feature endogenous flexibility: at some cost, agents can adjust their behavior more quickly (e.g., in response to changing market conditions)....

The abrupt est of rapid economic growth in Malaysia has created a new mood of insecurity. However, "economic insecurity" is rarely discussed in the professional economics literature and has received little emphasis in recent economic policy making in OECD nations. This paper argues that economic...

Even in industrial countries, the impact of information technology has not been as deep or pervasive as the debate about the benefits of the global information society sometimes makes it appear. The literature review on the US experience shows that there is neither a 'productivity paradox' nor a...

One of the earliest general strategies of development that directly involves international transactions is that usuallly called import substitution. This paper studies the import substitution story -why and how it came to be -and the rise of the outward-oriented approach (a contrary approach to...

Taiwan has undergone a process of swift industrialization after 1948. Rapid accumulation of physical and human capital enabled Taiwan to exploit new technologies and products, resulting in rapid catch up in labour productivity relative to more advanced economies. Using the industry-of-origin...