We attempt to explain why standard explanations of the poverty of nations are unsatisfactory. We first argue that human capital is low in poor countries because its production has increasing returns with respect to life expectancy. We then show that the reason why capital does not flow to poor...

This book is an in-depth discussion of rising inequalities in the western world. It explores the extent to which rising inequalities are the mechanical consequence of changes in economic fundamentals (such as changes in technological or demographic parameters), and to what extent they are the...

Contributors to this volume - Bruno Amable (CEPREMAP, Paris - France) Philippe Askenazy (CNRS and CEPREMAP, Paris - France) Eric Bartelsman (Free University, Amsterdam - The Netherlands) Andrea Bassanini (OECD, Paris - France) Daniel Cohen (Delta, Paris - France) Gosta Esping-Andersen...

This book is an in-depth discussion of rising inequalities in the western world. It explores the extent to which rising inequalities are the mechanical consequence of changes in economic fundamentals (such as changes in technological or demographic parameters), and to what extent they are the...

Tables of national competitiveness give an easily comparable ranking of the winners and losers of global economic competition, but they do not explain why the poor countries are four times less productive than the rich ones or why some rich countries are twice as productive as others. Using...