Cross-sectional Growth Regressions Research Articles

Economic Growth and Human Development in Indian States after Two Decades of Economic Reforms1

This paper examines the relative performance of 28 major Indian states over the two decades (1990-2010) on economic growth and human development indicators by empirically confirming the two-way nexus between economic growth (EG) and human development (HD) and identifying other important links in the relationship from cross-sectional growth regressions. The paper finds a strong and consistent convergence in indicators of human development across states even as incomes have diverged over the two decades. Further, the classification of the states into vicious, virtuous, HD-lopsided and EG-lopsided categories and the shifts across categories of different states over the two decades reveal the importance of the requirement of simultaneous thrust on EG and HD in order to escape the vicious cycle.

Entry, Exit and Growth of US Commercial Banks

We investigate the entry, exit and growth of commercial banks in the United States (US) during the period 1984-2012. Hazard function estimations for the probability of exit via acquisition and failure, and cross-sectional growth regressions examine the impact of exit through merger and acquisition (M&A) or failure, and internally-generated growth. The hazard of disappearance via acquisition is inversely to asset size and quality, profitability, managerial efficiency and capitalization, and positively related to liquidity. Small banks with a higher proportion of their assets in lending, and small banks with high credit risk, are more likely to fail. We report evidence of an inverse relationship between bank size and growth, and some evidence of persistence in growth performance from one year to the next among smaller banks.

U.S. CREDIT UNIONS: SURVIVAL, CONSOLIDATION, AND GROWTH

This study uses hazard function estimations and time‐series and cross‐sectional growth regressions to examine the impact of exit through merger and acquisition (M&A) or failure, and internally generated growth, on the firm‐size distribution within the U.S. credit union sector. Consolidation through M&A was the principal cause of a reduction in the number of credit unions, but impact on concentration was small. Divergence between the average internally generated growth of smaller and larger credit unions was the principal driver of the rise in concentration. (JELG21)

The Corporate Demography of the US Credit Union Industry

This paper uses hazard function estimations together with cross-sectional growth regressions to examine the impact of exit through merger and acquisition (M&A) or failure, and internally-generated growth, on the firm-size distribution of the US credit union industry. Consolidation through M&A was the principal cause of a reduction in the number of credit unions, but impact on concentration was small. A positive relationship between size and growth, and a pattern of positive persistence in growth, reflects a divergence in the population size distribution. Divergence between average internally-generated growth of smaller and larger credit unions was the principal driver of the rise in concentration.

A Bayesian Approach to Identifying and Interpreting Regional Convergence Clubs in Europe

This study suggests a two-step approach to identifying and interpreting regional convergence clubs in Europe. The first step involves identifying the number and composition of clubs using a space-time panel data model for annual income growth rates in conjunction with Bayesian model comparison methods. A second step uses a Bayesian space-time panel data model to assess how changes in the initial endowments of variables (that explain growth) impact regional income levels over time. These dynamic trajectories of changes in regional income levels over time allow us to draw inferences regarding the timing and magnitude of regional income responses to changes in the initial conditions for the clubs that have been identified in the first step. This is in contrast to conventional practice that involves setting the number of clubs ex ante, selecting the composition of the potential convergence clubs according to some a priori criterion (such as initial per capita income thresholds for example), and using cross-sectional growth regressions for estimation and interpretation purposes. (authors' abstract)

English

This paper addresses the effect of English proficiency on economic growth empirically with Barro-type cross-sectional growth regression. The empirical results provide evidence of positive correlation between initial English proficiency and economic growth only for the countries in the Asia and Europe. Therefore, countries with higher levels of English proficiency among the fraction of its population are likely to grow faster. This paper suggests that the ability to absorb knowledge is positively related to the level of English proficiency. It implies that the level of English proficiency can be viewed as a component of human capital.

Is a negative correlation between resource abundance and growth sufficient evidence that there is a “resource curse”?

Evidence from cross-sectional growth regressions suggests that economies dependent on natural resource exports have had slower growth than resource scarce economies. Explanations for this “curse of resources” focus on institutional and market failures caused by resource abundance. With a simple two sector model exhaustible resource model, we demonstrate that the correlation between growth and natural resource abundance can be negative in the absence of market and institutional failures. Since there is no way to distinguish between efficient and inefficient equilibria on the basis of the negative correlation between growth and resource abundance, finding that correlation is not sufficient to conclude resources are a curse, nor is it necessary to find a positive correlation between growth and resources to overturn the resource curse interpretation. We show whether resources are a curse or a blessing for an economy can only be determined by an investigation of the correlation between resource abundance and income levels. Using panel data for U.S. states for the period 1970–2001, we show that resource abundance is negatively correlated with growth rates but positively correlated with income levels.

Is the Speed of Convergence Constant?

Empirical attempts to measure the speed of convergence - the rate at which a country's per capita income approaches its steady state relative to its distance from its steady state - have started from the assumption that it is constant. In contrast, neoclassical models of capital accumulation usually predict that the speed of convergence decreases as income approaches its steady state. Estimating a flexible functional form which allows the speed of convergence to vary suggests that the speed of convergence actually increases as income approaches its steady state. An increasing speed of convergence calls into question structural interpretations of coefficients on conditioning variables in cross-sectional growth regressions. Instead, excluding initial income from cross-sectional growth regressions allows coefficients on exogenous variables to be interpreted as measuring changes in underlying structural relationships.

Fertility, income distribution and economic growth: Theory and cross-country evidence: Comments

In a recent paper, Galor and Zang attempt to explain the large observed cross-country disparities in the levels and growth rates of per capita output. Cross-country variation in family size and income distribution patterns are an important element of such an explanation. Galor and Zang support the arguments put forth in their paper by using a simple variation of the model published by Galor and Zeira in 1993 and 70 cross-sectional growth regressions in the style of Barro's 1991 work. Some points in Galor and Zang's recent work require clarification. The author therefore reviews their work with the goal of clarifying some of Galor and Zang's underlying assumptions which are not that clear in their paper. The aim is to give the reader an idea of what Galor and Zang's paper does and does not do.