In this paper, the concept of social capital is introduced and illustrated, its forms are described, the social structural conditions under which it arises are examined, and it is used in an analys...

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Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital

This paper examines whether the Solow growth model is consistent with the international variation in the standard of living. It shows that an augmented Solow model that includes accumulation of human as well as physical capital provides an excellent description of the cross-country data. The paper also examines the implications of the Solow model for convergence in standards of living, that is, for whether poor countries tend to grow faster than rich countries. The evidence indicates that, holding population growth and capital accumulation constant, countries converge at about the rate the augmented Solow model predicts. This paper takes Robert Solow seriously. In his classic 1956 article Solow proposed that we begin the study of economic growth by assuming a standard neoclassical production function with decreasing returns to capital. Taking the rates of saving and population growth as exogenous, he showed that these two vari- ables determine the steady-state level of income per capita. Be- cause saving and population growth rates vary across countries, different countries reach different steady states. Solow's model gives simple testable predictions about how these variables influ- ence the steady-state level of income. The higher the rate of saving, the richer the country. The higher the rate of population growth, the poorer the country. This paper argues that the predictions of the Solow model are, to a first approximation, consistent with the evidence. Examining recently available data for a large set of countries, we find that saving and population growth affect income in the directions that Solow predicted. Moreover, more than half of the cross-country variation in income per capita can be explained by these two variables alone. Yet all is not right for the Solow model. Although the model correctly predicts the directions of the effects of saving and

/pdf/a-contribution-to-the-empirics-of-economic-growth-27cl5gkqam.pdf

A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth

Large sample properties of generalized method of moments estimators

Growth in this model is driven by technological change that arises from intentional investment decisions made by profit-maximizing agents. The distinguishing feature of the technology as an input is that it is neither a conventional good nor a public good; it is a nonrival, partially excludable good. Because of the nonconvexity introduced by a nonrival good, price-taking competition cannot be supported. Instead, the equilibrium is one with monopolistic competition. The main conclusions are that the stock of human capital determines the rate of growth, that too little human capital is devoted to research in equilibrium, that integration into world markets will increase growth rates, and that having a large population is not sufficient to generate growth.

/pdf/endogenous-technological-change-4yzdlw043b.pdf

Endogenous Technological Change

Growth in this model is driven by technological change that arises from intentional investment decisions made by profit maximizing agents. The distinguishing feature of the technology as an input is that it is neither a conventional good nor a public good; it is a nonrival, partially excludable good. Because of the nonconvexity introduced by a nonrival good, price-taking competition cannot be supported, and instead, the equilibriumis one with monopolistic competition. The main conclusions are that the stock of human capital determines the rate of growth, that too little human capital is devoted to research in equilibrium, that integration into world markets will increase growth rates, and that having a large population is not sufficient to generate growth.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/nber_w3210.pdf?abstractid=226703&mirid=1

Effects of Migration on Sending Countries: What Do We Know? OECD Development Centre Working Paper No. 250.

This paper develops a model of a monetary economy in which individual firms are subject to idiosyncratic productivity shocks as well as general inflation. Sellers can change price only by incurring a real menu cost.' We calibrate this cost and the variance and autocorrelation of the idiosyncratic shock using a new U.S. data set of individual prices due to Klenow and Kryvtsov. The prediction of the calibrated model for the effects of high inflation on the frequency of price changes accords well with the Israeli evidence obtained by Lach and Tsiddon. The model is also used to conduct numerical experiments on the economy's response to credible and incredible disinflations and other shocks. In none of the simulations we conducted did monetary shocks induce large or persistent real responses.

Menu Costs and Phillips Curves

I am grateful to Richard Arnott, John Harris and two anonymous referees for a number of suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper.

/pdf/the-effects-of-proximity-and-transportation-on-developing-37qow0hf7k.pdf

The effects of proximity and transportation on developing country population migrations

Professor Rees's reactions to our econometric study of the U.S. labor market, recently published in this Journal (1970), raise a bewildering variety of issues. Many of these issues have to do with "important implications for policy" which "lurk close . . . to the surface," as Rees sees it, of our study. These implications, whatever they may be, remain submerged after one has read Rees's remarks. We shall not attempt to guess at their nature or respond to them. There are, however, two substantive issues raised by Rees which deserve further discussion. Rees asserts that "in this [that is, our] model unemployment arises from the recalcitrance of suppliers and not from deficiencies in demand." This highly misleading statement is corrected in section 1 of this note. Rees also raises the important empirical question of whether our theory does succeed in accounting for labor-market behavior during the period 1929-39. Further study on our part indicates that Rees's skepticism on this point is well founded: our hypothesis accounts for much, but not all, of the observed labor-market rigidity during this period. These results are reported in Section 2.

Unemployment in the Great Depression: Is There a Full Explanation?

Contents: 1. Migration and Economic Development: An Introduction and Synopsis Robert E.B. Lucas 2. Informing Migration Policies: A Data Primer Calogero Carletto, Jennica Larrison and Caglar OEzden 3. The Economic History of Migration: The Pre-World War One United States as Lens Robert A. Margo 4. International Migration, Trade and Aid: A Survey Christopher R. Parsons and L. Alan Winters 5. The Discourse and Practice of Co-development in Europe Flore Gubert 6. Does Development Reduce Migration? Michael A. Clemens 7. Development through Seasonal Worker Programs: The Case of New Zealand's RSE Program. John Gibson and David McKenzie 8. Southern Hub: The Globalization of Migration to South Africa Jonathan Crush 9. Emigration and Wages in Source Countries: A Survey of the Empirical Literature Prachi Mishra 10. Migration, Technology Diffusion and Institutional Development at the Origin Olena Ivus and Alireza Naghavi 11. The Migration-Trade Link in Developing Economies: A Summary and Extension of Evidence Robert E.B. Lucas 12. Return Migration and Economic Development Jackline Wahba 13. Growth in Forced Displacement: Cross-Country, Sub-National and Household Evidence on Potential Determinants Ana Maria Ibanez 14. Economic Consequences of Conflict and Environmental Displacement Florence Kondylis and Valerie Mueller 15. Development, Immigration and Terrorism Pinar Derin-Gure Index

Robert E. Lucas

Papers

Effects of Migration on Sending Countries: What Do We Know? OECD Development Centre Working Paper No. 250.

Menu Costs and Phillips Curves

The effects of proximity and transportation on developing country population migrations

Unemployment in the Great Depression: Is There a Full Explanation?

International Handbook on Migration and Economic Development