The Illusions of Calculating Total Factor Productivity and Testing Growth Models: From Cobb-Douglas to Solow and Romer

Abstract: Growth models in the tradition of Solow and Romer are framed in terms of production functions. Consequently, they are equally subject to a criticism developed by, among others, Phelps Brown (1957), Simon (1979a), and Samuelson (1979). These authors argued that production function estimations are flawed exercises because output, labor and capital stock, are definitionally related through an accounting identity. The identity argument helps demystify two illusions in the literature: (i) finding the Holy Grail: total factor productivity is, by construction, a weighted average of dollars per worker and a pure number (the rate of profit or the rental rate of capital); and (ii) the possibility of testing: if estimated properly, production function regressions will yield: (a) a very high fit, potentially an R2 of unity; and (b) estimated factor elasticities equal to the factor shares, hence they must always add up to 1. We illustrate these points through a series of well-known growth accounting exercises and models directly derived from production functions. They are futile exercises. We conclude that we know substantially less than we think about growth and that many of the discussions in the neoclassical growth literature are Kuhnian puzzles that only make sense within this paradigm

Can only democracies enhance \u201cHuman Development\u201d? Evidence from the Former Soviet Countries

Despite the considerable interest in the concept of human development, there has been little research on the political determinants of its dimensions. This paper investigates the role played by the type of political systems on the non-income components of human development. In particular it tests the hypothesis that it is not only democratic countries that enhance spending on health and education, but this might be true of autocratic regimes. The hypothesis is tested for the former Soviet Republics. It is found that expenditure on the social provision of health and education increases with both the degree of democracy and autocracy

Reflections on the mechanism of the Barton-McCombie Deoxygenation and on its consequences†

International audienceThe Barton-McCombie deoxygenation is a landmark reaction in organic chemistry. Its efficiency in generating carbon radicals from alcohols is unmatched, despite the passage of more than 40 years since its discovery. Its mechanism, far from being straightforward, is in fact quite subtle and conceptually part of a much larger family of very powerful thiocarbonyl controlled radical reactions. This general mechanistic manifold encompasses the degenerate transfer of xanthates and related thiocarbonylthio congeners, a process that also subtends the now popular RAFT/MADIX polymerization technology, the remarkably versatile Barton decarboxylation via thiohydroxamate esters, the generation of nitrogen-centered radicals from oxime xanthates and thiosemicarbazones and thiosemicarbazides, and certainly other transformations that will emerge in the coming years. The present overview retraces the history of the Barton-McCombie reaction, the evolution of the mechanistic aspects and the resulting consequences in terms of new transformations and synthetic applications

Cyclization Reactions of Nitrogen-Centered Radicals

International audienc

Controlling benzylic functionality and stereochemistry: 2. Synthesis of the pseudopterosin aglycone

Homologation, cyclisation, and reduction converted the tetralin (2) to the hexahydrophenalenol (8), which was methylated to afford (19), via alkoxide-directed metalation. The degree of stereoselectivity resulting from reactions of (19) and congeners with allylsilane - Lewis acid combinations was markedly dependent upon substitution patterns, whereas Et2AlCN-SnCl4 produced pseudoaxial nitriles. The trimethyl nitrile (24) was elaborated to the pseudopterosin aglycone (4)

Pyrroles and related compounds. Part XXIV. Separation and oxidative degradation of chlorophyll derivatives

A convenient, large-scale method for separation of the a and b series metal-free chlorophyll derivatives is described, utilising the Girard \u27T\u27 reagent with subsequent chromatography. Efficient procedures for conversion of phaeophytin-a (3) into rhodoporphyrin-XV dimethyl ester (1) and the corresponding 2-vinyl compound (2), involving the classical oxidation to purpurin derivatives, followed by further degradation, are described; n.m.r. data for several important chlorophyll degradation products are reported. Novel oxidative reactions of the isocyclic ring in methyl mesopyrophaeophorbide-a (19) are also described

Pyrroles and related compounds. Part XXX. Cyclisation of porphyrin β-keto-estersto phaeoporphyrins

Porphyrin β-keto-esters are cyclised to the corresponding phaeoporphyrins in high yield by treatment of the former with 2 equiv. of thallium(III) trifluoroacetate, followed by photolysis and demetallation. In this way, the first formal total syntheses of phaeoporphyrin-a5 dimethyl ester (6a) and 2-vinylphaeoporphyrin-a5 dimethyl ester (6b) have been accomplished

Pyrrole und verwandte Verbindungen, XXI. Schutz der Porphyrinvinylgruppen. Eine Synthese von Koproporphyrin‐III aus Protoporphyrin‐IX\u3csup\u3e2)\u3c/sup\u3e

Der Schutz empfindlicher Vinylgruppen bestimmter Porphyrine erfolgt durch anti‐Markownikoff‐Hydratation. Das Vinylporphyrin 3 liefert mit Thallium(III)‐nitrat oder ‐trifluoracetat in Methanol das (2,2‐Dimethoxyäthyl)porphyrin 7, das zum Aldehyd 8 hydrolysiert und mit Natriumborhydrid zum (2‐Hydroxyäthyl)‐Derivat 5 reduziert wird. Verbindung 5 kann nach früher beschriebenen Methoden in das vinylhaltige Ausgangsporphyrin zurückverwandelt werden. Unter Verwendung dieser Hydratationsmethode wird Protoporphyrin‐IX‐dimethylester (1) in Koproporphyrin‐III‐tetramethylester (18) übergeführt. Hierbei wird Bis(2‐hydroxyäthyl)porphyrin 14 mit Thionylbromid zu Bis(2‐bromäthyl)porphyrin 15 und dieses mit Natriumcyanid zum entsprechenden Bis(2‐cyanäthyl)‐Derivat 17 umgesetzt, aus dem schließlich nach Methanolyse 18 in einer Gesamtausbeute von 37% entsteht. Copyright © 1973 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei

Controlling benzylic and anomeric functionality and stereochemistry: methodolgy and syntheses utilising intramolecular ionic hydrogenation

Intramolecular hydride transfer from a hydroxyl-tethered SiH unit to a stabilised carbonium ion is shown to be a useful method for stereochemical control in benzylic and carbohydrate systems, as exemplified by racemic and nonracemic syntheses of key intermediates for the pseudopterosin/secopseudopterosin family, and by the synthesis of 2-deoxy-C-glycosides. These syntheses illustrate and compare two alternative methods of carbonium ion generation: olefin protonation, and Lewis acid-promoted sulfone ionisation. Simple model systems are used to show that ring size restrictions to hydride transfer in a 5-membered ring may be overcome by the appropriate choice of reagent, permitting the reaction to be used for stereochemical control from a vicinal, hydroxyl-bearing carbon