Chapter 21 A Unified Theory of the Evolution of International Income Levels

Stephen L. Parente, Edward Prescott

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

54 Scopus citations

Abstract

This chapter develops a theory of the evolution of international income levels. In particular, it augments the Hansen-Prescott theory of economic development with the Parente-Prescott theory of relative efficiencies and shows that the unified theory accounts for the evolution of international income levels over the last millennium. The essence of this unified theory is that a country starts to experience sustained increases in its living standard when production efficiency reaches a critical point. Countries reach this critical level of efficiency at different dates not because they have access to different stocks of knowledge, but rather because they differ in the amount of society-imposed constraints on the technology choices of their citizenry.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1371-1416
Number of pages46
JournalHandbook of Economic Growth
Volume1
Issue numberSUPPL. PART B
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005

Keywords

  • aggregate economic efficiency
  • capital share
  • catch-up
  • trading clubs
  • transition to modern economic growth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Economics and Econometrics

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