The impact of financial integration and unilateral public transfers on investment and growth in EC capital-importing countries

Abstract

This paper develops an endogenous growth model of private, public, and human capital accumulation, in which the public and the current account balances play a crucial role, with the purpose of studying the impact of financial integration and unilateral public transfers on the intertemporal paths of EC capital-importing economies. While both financial integration and unilateral public transfers generate a wealth effect, they affect different types of investment activities, and have different effects on foreign borrowing. The theoretical model is applied to Portugal. Numerical simulation suggest that these structural changes have a substantial impact on growth and on the convergence of Portuguese GDP per capita to EC standards. The structural changes, however, affect negatively the domestic policy options in face of the requirements of the Economic and Monetary Union in the EC.