The Empirics of Economic Growth Over Time and Across Nations: A Unified Growth Perspective

Cervellati, Matteo; Meyerheim, Gerrit and Sunde, Uwe (29. September 2022): The Empirics of Economic Growth Over Time and Across Nations: A Unified Growth Perspective. Collaborative Research Center Transregio 190, Discussion Paper No. 339

Abstract

This research develops an expanded unified growth theory that incorporates the endogenous accumulation of physical capital, population, human capital, and technology. The model incorporates a complementarity between physical capital and human capital and can be extended to a multi-country setting with international technology diffusion. The analytical characterization of the mechanisms behind the observed patterns of long-run growth and comparative development delivers a consistent explanation for a large set of seemingly unrelated empirical facts. A quantitative multi-country version of the model matches various empirical regularities of long-run growth dynamics and comparative development patterns that have previously been studied in isolation. The findings also shed new light on the role of the demographic transition for convergence patterns, the specification of cross-country growth regressions, technology spillovers, and the secular stagnation debate.

• Item Type: Paper
• Keywords: unified growth, long-run development, demographic transition, secular stagnation
• Faculties: Economics > Collaborative Research Center Transregio "Rationality and Competition"
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• JEL Classification: O47, O11, O15, E24
• Language: English