The 2008 Lawrence R. Klein Lecture—comparative Economic Development: Insights From Unified Growth Theory*

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract This paper explores the implications of Uni…ed Growth Theory for the origins of existing di¤er-ences in income per capita across countries. The theory sheds light on three fundamental layers of comparative development. It identi…es the factors that have governed the pace of the transition from stagnation to growth and have thus contributed to contemporary variation in economic development. It uncovers the forces that have sparked the emergence of multiple growth regimes and convergence clubs, and it underlines the persistent e¤ects that variations in pre-historical biogeographical conditions have generated on the composition of human capital and economic development across the globe. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may

The effect of demand-driven structural transformations on growth and technological change

“…The growth of income is accompanied by population growth and induces firms growth. Following Galor (2010), we call this the Malthusian stagnation phase. During the second phase, the economy takes off and experiences sustained exponential growth.…”

Life expectancy and economic growth: the role of the demographic transition

“…Theories where greater life expectancy causally leads to a reduction in fertility includeKalemli-Ozcan (2002), which also explicitly shows that changes in fertility may lead to non-monotonicities in income per capita growth,Boldrin and Jones (2002),Kalemli-Ozcan (2003),Soares (2005),Strulik (2008) andBar and Leukhina (2010); seeGalor (2005Galor ( , 2010 for comprehensive surveys of the literature. Whether reductions in mortality are indeed causal for fertility reductions is still debated in the empirical literature.6 The role of dependency ratios is studied inBloom et al (2003), and the interaction between fertility and labor force participation is investigated by Soares (2005),Cervellati and Sunde (2007),.…”

Dynamics and Stagnation in the Malthusian Epoch

“… 1 The transition from stagnation to growth has been examined by Oded Galor and David N. Weil (1999, 2000), Galor and Omer Moav (2002), Gary D. Hansen and Edward C. Prescott (2002), Robert E. Lucas, Jr. (2002), Nils-Petter Lagerlöf (2003, 2006), Matthias Doepke (2004), Galor (2005), Kevin H. O’Rourke, Ahmed S. Rahman, and Alan M. Taylor (2008), Holger Strulik and Jacob L. Weisdorf (2008), and others, while the associated phenomenon of the Great Divergence in income per capita has been analyzed by Galor and Andrew Mountford (2006, 2008), Nico Voigtländer and Hans-Joachim Voth (2006, 2009), Quamrul Ashraf and Galor (2007), and Galor (2010) amongst others. …”