Kaldor-Verdoorn’s law and increasing returns to scale: a comparison across developed countries

The object of this study is to investigate the validity of the Kaldor-Verdoorn’s Law in explaining the long run determinants of the labor productivity growth for the manufacturing sector of some developed economies (Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and United States). We consider the period 1973-2006 using data provided by the European Commission - Economics and Financial Affairs. Our findings suggest that the law is valid for the manufacturing of Italy, US, Belgium and Australia. Capital growth and labor cost growth do not appear relevant in explaining productivity growth. The estimated Verdoorn coefficients are found to be stable throughout the period.increasing returns, Kaldor-Verdoorn law, productivity growth, manufacturing sector

Human capital and economic development : an analysis for the Mediterranean countries

In this essay we shall dwell on examining the influences of "human capital" on per capita income of the countries bordering the Mediterranean. Since the 60's, physical and human capital emerged as an important theme for analysis. Schultz (1964) demonstrated that for the less developed countries to record a higher growth, it was necessary to disseminate new technologies and to provide infrastructures and services by higher expenditures. Better infrastructures would enable the economy to have low transport costs as in Coase (1937) as well as low costs in the implementation of contracts. But what is human capital? It is made up of all skills and productive knowledge found in individuals, as agents able to product an income inside an economic system. In relation to the characteristics of the individuals incorporating it, we can refer to the human capital and also to all the qualified human resources, whose enterprises have to carry out the production processes. Literature (see amongst others: Prausello and Marenco, 1996) considers higher school education and vocational training as the most important forms of human capital investment. Generally, every time the present consumption is given up in order to increase the stock of individual knowledge and skills, a human capital investment takes place. This means that particular forms of human capital are connected with the expenses, or costs and opportunities faced for health reasons, to buy and deal information and particularly to look for a work, to move to another town or emigrate, to achieve a minimum level of production capabilities by means of food expenses in the case of developing countries and so on. In the first part of this paper we shall dwell on the innovative role given to the theory of economic growth by those researchers that consider also among the productive factors the human capital or endogenous growth models; in the second part the basic hypothesis of these models will be considered; and finally, in the third part, we shall verify (by means of an econometric analysis), the correlation between some proxies of human capital and the per capita income of the countries bordering the Mediterranean; in the fourth conclusive remarks are expressed.peer-reviewe

Criminality and economic development : an empirical verification in Italian regions (1980-95)

This research tries to assess the existence of a correlation (positive or negative) between the level of economic development and particular criminal variables (homicide and theft) in the Centre-North and Southern Italian regions during the period 1980-95. The results obtained confirm the hypothesis that there exists an inversely proportionate relationship between the level of economic development and the number of homicides in five regions out of eight in Southern Italy. When the rate of theft is considered instead, this relationship can only be established for three regions out of eight in Southern Italy. The first part of this article examines the theories that analyse the relationship between economic development and crime, whilst the second part of the article describes the index factors used to develop this econometric analysis. The research-data obtained is discussed.in the concluding part of the article.peer-reviewe

Kaldor-Verdoorn’s law and increasing returns to scale: a comparison across developed countries

The object of this study is to investigate the validity of the Kaldor-Verdoorn’s Law in explaining the long run determinants of the labor productivity growth for the manufacturing sector of some developed economies (Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and United States). We consider the period 1973-2006 using data provided by the European Commission - Economics and Financial Affairs. Our findings suggest that the law is valid for the manufacturing of Italy, US, Belgium and Australia. Capital growth and labor cost growth do not appear relevant in explaining productivity growth. The estimated Verdoorn coefficients are found to be stable throughout the period

Kaldor-Verdoorn’s law and increasing returns to scale: a comparison across developed countries

The object of this study is to investigate the validity of the Kaldor-Verdoorn’s Law in explaining the long run determinants of the labor productivity growth for the manufacturing sector of some developed economies (Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and United States). We consider the period 1973-2006 using data provided by the European Commission - Economics and Financial Affairs. Our findings suggest that the law is valid for the manufacturing of Italy, US, Belgium and Australia. Capital growth and labor cost growth do not appear relevant in explaining productivity growth. The estimated Verdoorn coefficients are found to be stable throughout the period

Kaldor-Verdoorn's Law and Increasing Returns to Scale: A Comparison Across Developed Countries

The objective of this study is to investigate the validity of the Kaldor-Verdoorn's Law in explaining the long run determinants of the labor productivity growth for the manufacturing sector of some developed economies (Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and United States). We consider the period 1973-2006 using data provided by the European Commission - Economics and Financial Affairs. Our findings suggest that the law is valid for the manufacturing as countries show increasing returns to scale. Capital growth and labor cost growth do not appear important in explaining productivity growth. The estimated Verdoorn coefficients are found to be substantially stable throughout the period

Divari territoriali di produttivita': un'analisi empirica per l'economia italiana

Dottorato di ricerca in economia e politica dello sviluppo. 7. ciclo. Relatore M. CentorrinoConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

Local banks and credit: from crisis to the new regulatory proposals for the development of lending policies in favour of the real economy

Comparing the credit cooperative banks (CCBs) and banking groups operating in Italy, descriptive analyses show that the CCBs, unlike large banks, despite the economic downturn, have continued to extend credit to customers, but at the cost of a higher incidence of bad credit. This increased credit risk of local banks has been caused by management policy choices, such as the preference to modify the conditions applicable to credit supply and to engage firms in long-term credit relationships rather than initiate credit recovery procedures. An empirical analysis shows that this risk has also been caused by a higher incidence of environmental factors such as the spread of situations of crime and lower economic well-being, especially in southern Italy. We therefore offer some suggestions for strengthening the creditworthiness assessment models adopted by the CCBs through the greater integration of soft and hard information and also on the potential benefits in the event of adopting rules for the use of credits of "quality" as collateral for obtaining low-cost funds from the European Central Bank (ECB)

Criminalità e rischiosità dei crediti: un’analisi per le banche di credito Cooperativo

Il paper si sofferma sulle relazioni che esistono fra la criminalità e la qualità dell’offerta di credito da parte delle banche locali con particolare riferimento al credito cooperativ

Kaldor-Verdoorn's Law and Increasing Returns to Scale: A Comparison Across Developed Countries

The objective of this study is to investigate the validity of the Kaldor-Verdoorn’s Law in explaining the long run determinants of the labor productivity growth for the manufacturing sector of some developed economies (Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and United States). We consider the period 1973-2006 using data provided by the European Commission - Economics and Financial Affairs. Our findings suggest that the law is valid for the manufacturing as countries show increasing returns to scale. Capital growth and labor cost growth do not appear important in explaining productivity growth. The estimated Verdoorn coefficients are found to be substantially stable throughout the period