World War II and convergence

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cook, D
• 署名单位: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/003465302317331964
• 发表日期: 2002-02
• 页码: 131-138
• 关键词: instrument relevance; ECONOMIC-GROWTH; empirics; tests

摘要

Proxies that measure the effect of World War H on a country's capital stock are used as instruments for estimating standard cross-country growth regressions. The war's destruction should offer a natural experiment that allows us to consistently estimate the speed at which productivity growth converges to its long-run path. This paper presents evidence that convergence rates are approximately 4% to 6% per annum, substantially larger than conventional wisdom.