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Changes in the World Distribution of Output Per Worker, 1960-1998: How a Standard Decomposition Tells an Unorthodox Story

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  • Paul Beaudry

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Fabrice Collard

    (CNRS-GREMAQ and IDEI)

  • David A. Green

    (University of British Columbia)

Abstract

Why have some countries done so much better than others over the recent past? This paper sheds light on this issue by providing a decomposition of the change in the distribution of output per worker across countries over the period 1960-1998. We find that most of the change in shape of the world distribution of income can be accounted for by a very substantial increase in the social returns to capital accumulation. In contrast, we do not find significant effects coming through changes in the effect of initial conditions or through increases in the importance of education. © 2005 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Beaudry & Fabrice Collard & David A. Green, 2005. "Changes in the World Distribution of Output Per Worker, 1960-1998: How a Standard Decomposition Tells an Unorthodox Story," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 741-753, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:87:y:2005:i:4:p:741-753
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    Cited by:

    1. Battisti, Michele & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2013. "Clustering and polarization in the distribution of output: A multivariate perspective," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 144-162.
    2. Gancia, Gino & Bonfiglioli, Alessandra, 2008. "North-South trade and directed technical change," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 276-295, December.
    3. Michele Battisti & Massimo Del Gatto & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2018. "Labor productivity growth: disentangling technology and capital accumulation," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 111-143, March.
    4. Michele Battisti & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2010. "Convergence Tools and Mixture Analysis," Working Papers CELEG 1007, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, LUISS Guido Carli.
    5. Patrick Carter & Jonathan R. W. Temple, 2017. "Virtuous Circles and the Case for Aid," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 65(2), pages 397-425, June.
    6. Davide Fiaschi & Andrea Mario Lavezzi & Angela Parenti, 2009. "Counterfactual Distribution Dynamics across European Regions," Discussion Papers 2009/85, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    7. Davide Fiaschi & Andrea Mario Lavezzi & Angela Parenti, 2020. "Deep and Proximate Determinants of the World Income Distribution," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(3), pages 677-710, September.
    8. Davide Fiaschi & Andrea Mario Lavezzi & Angela Parenti, 2013. "On the Determinants of Distribution Dynamics," Discussion Papers 2013/165, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    9. Gordon Anderson & Oliver Linton & Teng Leo, 2012. "A polarization-cohesion perspective on cross-country convergence," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 49-69, March.
    10. Amélie Charles & Olivier Darne & Jean-François Hoarau, 2012. "Convergence of real per capita GDP within COMESA countries: A panel unit root evidence," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 49(1), pages 53-71, August.
    11. Bruns, Stephan B. & Ioannidis, John P.A., 2020. "Determinants of economic growth: Different time different answer?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    12. Ahmed Tritah, 2016. "Endogenous wage rigidities, human capital accumulation and growth," TEPP Working Paper 2016-08, TEPP.
    13. Gordon Anderson & Teng Wah Leo & Oliver Linton, 2010. "Making Inferences About Rich Country - Poor Country Convergence: The Polarization Trapezoid and Overlap measures," Working Papers tecipa-387, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    14. Huynh, Kim P. & Jacho-Chávez, David T., 2009. "Growth and governance: A nonparametric analysis," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 121-143, March.
    15. Paul Johnson & Chris Papageorgiou, 2020. "What Remains of Cross-Country Convergence?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 129-175, March.
    16. Corey A. DeAngelis & Angela K. Dills, 2020. "Does Compulsory Schooling Affect Innovation? Evidence from the United States," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 101(5), pages 1728-1742, September.
    17. Bouché, Stéphane, 2017. "Learning by doing, endogenous discounting and economic development," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 34-43.
    18. Shahram Amini & Michele Battisti & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2011. "Decomposing The Conditional Variance of Cross-Country Output," Working Papers 2011-18, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    19. Michele Battisti & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2011. "Income Polarization, Convergence Tools and Mixture Analysis," Working Papers 2011-17, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    20. Giovanni Caggiano & Leone Leonida, 2013. "Multimodality in the distribution of GDP and the absolute convergence hypothesis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 1203-1215, June.

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