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on Economic Growth |
| By: | Sistelo, Marta; Mazeda Gil, Pedro |
| Abstract: | Culture and social capital may be variables of particular interest when explaining economic growth. In recent years, policymakers and economists have increasingly considered their role in economic growth, yet cultural capital and social capital are analyzed separately. Despite being different concepts of capital, in this paper we argue that there is a link between cultural and social capital, and both need to be accounted for when analyzing economic growth and welfare. We develop a theoretical dynamic general-equilibrium model using a mainstream endogenous economic growth set-up (namely with human capital accumulation), incorporating cultural and social capital. We use the model to devise long-run and transitional-dynamics effects from the perspective of both economic growth and welfare, explicitly considering the interplay between cultural and social capital and other forms of capital. A detailed calibration of the model allows for the derivation of quantitative results, with an emphasis on policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Endogenous Growth; Social Capital; Cultural Capital; Human Capital; Welfare |
| JEL: | J24 O4 Z10 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126644 |
| By: | Jeffrey D. Sachs (Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA); Andrew M. Warner (International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20431) |
| Abstract: | One of the surprising features of modern economic growth is that economies with abundant natural resources have tended to grow less rapidly than natural resource-scarce economies. In this paper we show that economies with a high ratio of natural resource exports to GDP in 1971 (the base year) tended to have low growth rates during the subsequent period 1971-89. This negative relationship holds true even after controlling for variables found to be important for economic growth, such as initial per capita income, trade policy, govern ment effciency, investment rates, and other variables. We explore the possible pathways for this negative relationship by studying the cross-country effects of resource endowments on trade policy, bureaucratic effciency, and other deter minants of growth. We also provide a simple theoretical model of endogenous growth that might help to explain the observed negative relationship. |
| Date: | 2025–11–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cuf:wpaper:802 |
| By: | Patrick Hendy (Reserve Bank of Australia) |
| Abstract: | China's ageing population is expected to slow the country's economic growth in coming years. Population ageing can have a negative effect on a country's growth due to the decline in the working-age population relative to the dependent population, and could cause decreased labour productivity growth, as has been the case in other countries which have experienced similar demographic shifts. This paper seeks to estimate the causal effect of ageing on GDP per capita growth in China using data among China's provinces. I find that over 10 years a 10 per cent increase in the proportion of the population aged over 60 decreases nominal GDP per capita by around 7 per cent, all other things equal. These estimates imply that an ageing population has placed downward pressure on China's economic growth in the 2010s and 2020s so far, with this pressure likely to continue in the coming years. Authorities have so far responded to this challenge by increasing retirement ages and introducing policies such as a nationwide childcare subsidy. Different sectors in the economy are not likely to be affected uniformly by population ageing. I find that an increase in the old-age ratio increases the contribution of services (excluding real estate) to output, and decreases the contribution of construction. |
| Keywords: | China; demographics; economic growth |
| JEL: | J11 N35 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rba:rbardp:rdp2025-08 |
| By: | Cristián Ducoing (Department of Economics, Public University of Navarre (Spain). Department of Economic History, Lund University (Sweden)) |
| Abstract: | The resource curse hypothesis (RCH) has become one of the main lines of research in development economics. Based on a potential negative correlation between economic growth and the abundance (dependence) of natural resources, the RCH has generated thousands of articles and books. Most of these works used the time span of the years between 1970 and the present. Economic history has taken the hypothesis seriously, and in recent years, several studies with a long-term perspective have tested contemporary findings with mixed results. An analysis using longer time intervals has allowed us to have a better perspective of the relations between the abundance and dependence of natural resources on economic development. This work approaches this non-lineal relation using the most relevant economic history research on the topic. Moreover, a research agenda is suggested to enhance the input that Economic History could give to policy makers. |
| Keywords: | Economic History, Quantitative Methods, Natural Resource Curse |
| JEL: | N50 O13 Q01 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:2504 |
| By: | Jamiu Ibrahim Aminu (Faculty of Arts &Social Sciences, Gombe State University); Mohammed Shamwil (Department of Economics & Development Studies, Federal University of Kashere, Gombe); Ibrahim Abdullahi (Baze University, Abuja) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the relationship between energy efficiency and economic growth in Nigeria using time series data from 1980 to 2023 and the Stochastic Frontier Analysis framework. Results reveal that Nigeria?s energy demand is both price-elastic and income-elastic, indicating that changes in energy prices and income significantly influence consumption. Labour and capital act as substitutes for energy, while technological innovation boosts productivity but increases energy demand. The estimated average technical efficiency is relatively high at 95%, though marked by volatility and structural disparities across sectors. These findings highlight the critical role of policy consistency, reliable energy supply, and targeted investment in modern technologies to enhance efficiency and align Nigeria?s growth with sustainable development goals. |
| Keywords: | Energy Efficiency, Economic Growth, Stochastic frontier analysis, Nigeria |
| JEL: | Q40 Q56 C32 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:15016577 |
| By: | Sengupta, Atanu; De, Sanjoy |
| Abstract: | This year’s Economics Nobel is provided for finding out the cause of innovation-destructive creation of new ideas. It is also highly individualistic. First, it neglects the welfare of those who lose the race and are destroyed. Can they assimilate this new knowledge and how? If not, then… Second, it neglects the very quality of creative destruction. In a capitalist society as Harrai (2014) argues innovation is always profit motivated. The discoverer of ORS, the simple thing that saved lives of million during dysentery is not recognized. Innovation of vaccine against malaria and dengue are still on a very primitive stage. Development of learning techniques that help first generation learners have taken a back seat to the hype in Artificial Intelligence. The idea of creative destruction is appropriate to understand the evolution of the new world through a serious of continuous innovation and creation of new techniques, replacing the old ones. However, still there remain some broader aspects which the so-called growth theorists miss out. Yuval Noah Harari tries to point out some of the areas uncharted by the growth theorists. But, the ultimate vision of growth, as provided in the Mahayana doctrine is to lift all in a great vehicle. |
| Keywords: | Creative Destruction, Growth, Economics Nobel, Industrial Revolution, Capital |
| JEL: | O47 |
| Date: | 2025–10–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126695 |
| By: | Yasmine Elkhateeb (J-PAL MENA, Faculty of Economics & Political Science, Cairo University, Egypt); Riccardo Turati (Departament of Applied Economics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain & IZA, Germany & RFBerlin, Germany); Jérôme Valette (CEPII, IC Migrations, France & IZA, Germany & RFBerlin, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Does immigration challenge the identities, values, and cultural diversity of receiving societies? This paper addresses this question by analyzing the impact of immigration on cultural diversity in Europe between 2004 and 2018. It combines regional cultural diversity indices derived from the European Social Survey with immigration shares from the European Labor Force Survey. The results indicate that immigration increases the salience of birthplace identity along cultural lines, fostering a shift toward nativist identities among the native population. These identity shifts, in turn, trigger a process of cultural homogenization among natives. This effect is stronger in regions receiving culturally distant immigrants. It reflects a process of convergence toward the values of highly skilled liberal natives and divergence from those of low-skilled conservative immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Social Identity, Cultural Diversity. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea2517 |