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Portuguese economic growth revisited: a technology-gap explanation

Author

Listed:
  • José Afonso Mendes

    (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto)

  • Sandra T. Silva

    (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto, CEF.UP)

  • Ester G. Silva

    (Faculdade de Letras, Universidade do Porto, Instituto de Sociologia, CEF.UP)

Abstract

After a period of convergence where many perceived the country as a success case, Portugal’s economic performance proved to be disappointing in the last decade. In this study we focus on the relationship between technology and economic catching-up in order to answer to two major questions: (i) Has the technological structure of the Portuguese economy been an obstacle for catching up? (ii) What was the role played by the inefficient use of the available resources? Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), we show that over the last few decades the efficiency level of Portugal relative to a sample of 19 OECD countries fell sharply, which resulted in a divergent pattern of the Portuguese economy relative to the technological frontier.

Suggested Citation

  • José Afonso Mendes & Sandra T. Silva & Ester G. Silva, 2014. "Portuguese economic growth revisited: a technology-gap explanation," FEP Working Papers 545, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    • Handle: RePEc:por:fepwps:545
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    File URL: http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/workingpapers/wp545.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic growth; Catching-up; Technology; Structural Change; Innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure

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