The Costs of Dualism

This paper shows how to calibrate a two-sector general equilibrium model of production using a small number of parameter assumptions and readily available data. The framework is then used to analyze the costs of labor market dualism. The paper quantiÞes the effects of rural-urban wage differentials and urban unemployment on total output, wages and returns to capital, factor shares, and sectoral structure. One of the main Þndings is that labor market rigidities can have a major impact on the extent of industrialization.dualism, productivity, wage differentials, minimum wages

The costs of dualism

This paper shows how to calibrate a two-sector general equilibrium model of production using a small number of parameter assumptions and readily available data. The framework is then used to analyze the costs of labor market dualism. The paper quantifies the effects of rural-urban wage differentials and urban unemployment on total output, wages and returns to capital, factor shares, and sectoral structure. One of the main findings is that labor market rigidities can have a major impact on the extent of industrialization.dualism, productivity, wage differentials, minimum wages

Wage Inequality in a Dual Economy

This paper presents necessary and sufficient conditions for unambiguous changes in wage inequality in a dual economy, based on analysis of the entire Lorenz curve. These conditions are then used to analyze the distributional consequences of various types of economic growth. In particular, it is shown that capital accumulation or technical progress in agriculture is likely to reduce wage inequality, but the effects of development in non-agriculture are typically ambiguous. The paper also discusses the implications of this analysis for the Kuznets curve.dualism, inequality, growth

Dualism and Cross-Country Growth Regressions

This paper examines whether growth regressions should incorporate dualism and structural change. If there is a differential across sectors in the marginal product of labour, changes in the structure of employment can raise aggregate total factor productivity. The paper develops empirical growth models that allow for this effect in a more flexible way than previous work. Estimates of the models imply sizeable marginal product differentials, and reveal that the reallocation of labour can explain a significant fraction of the international variation in TFP growth.growth, convergence, structural change

Does external trade promote financial development?

Several recent papers have argued that trade and financial development may be linked, either for political economy reasons, or because foreign competition and exposure to shocks lead to changes in the demand for external finance. In this paper we use the cross-country and time-series variation in openness to study the relationship between trade and finance in more detail. Our results suggest that increases in goods market openness are typically followed by sustained increases in financial depth.openness, trade, financial development.

Growth and labour markets in developing countries

In middle-income countries, the informal sector often accounts for a substantial fraction of urban employment. We develop a general equilibrium model with matching frictions in the urban labour market, the possibility of self-employment in the informal sector, and scope for rural-urban migration. We investigate the effects of different types of growth on wages and the informal sector, and the extent to which labour market institutions can influence aggregate productivity. We quantify these effects by calibrating the model to data for Mexico, a country with a sizeable informal sector and significant labour market rigidities.

Growth and labour markets in developing countries

In middle-income countries, the informal sector often accounts for a substantial fraction of urban employment. We develop a general equilibrium model with matching frictions in the urban labour market, the possibility of self-employment in the informal sector, and scope for rural-urban migration. We investigate the effects of different types of growth on wages and the informal sector, and the extent to which labour market institutions can influence aggregate productivity. We quantify these effects by calibrating the model to data for Mexico, a country with a sizeable informal sector and significant labour market rigidities.informal sector, urban unemployment, dual economies, matching frictions

Macroeconomic policy and the distribution of growth rates

We examine the view that high-quality macroeconomic policy is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for economic growth. We first construct a new index of the quality of macroeconomic policy. We then directly compare growth rate distributions across countries with good and bad policies; use Bayesian methods to examine the partial correlation between policy and growth; and outline how growth and steady-state income levels might have differed, had all countries achieved good policy outcomes. One finding is that bad macroeconomic policies can be offset by other factors, but the fastest-growing countries in our sample all shared high-quality macroeconomic management.macroeconomic policy, economic growth, Washington Consensus, Bayesian Model Averaging, counterfactuals

The Calibration of CES Production Functions

This note addresses some issues that arise when using 'normalized' CES production functions, an approach that has become popular in the literature. The results of Klump and de La Grandville (2000) provide a simple way to calibrate the parameters of the CES production function when the necessary data are available. But some of the other applications of normalized CES production functions appear problematic, especially when used to argue that productivity is increasing in the elasticity of substitution.CES production functions, elasticity of substitution, normalization