A demand and supply model of economic growth

Summary A demand and supply model of economic growth has been developed. By means of this model a number of characteristics of the growth process have been investigated. Special attention has been given to the causes and consequences of growth disequilibria and the determinants of income distribution.The analysis leads to the conclusion that three growth situations must be distinguished: output is restricted by effective demand, by effective supply, and by the size of the labour force. The causes of growth disequilibria and the determinants of income distribution differ in each of these three cases. In this respect the model is more general than traditional post-keynesian, neo-keynesian and neo-classical growth models.The author is indebted to Professor Frits J. de Jong for his non-desisting support during the preparation of this paper. He is grateful to Mrs. Gerda H. de Jong of Veendam, The Netherlands, and to Dr. James H. Gapinski, Assistant Professor, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida for kindly improving the English of this article.In many respects this article draws heavily upon my doctoral dissertation:De betekenis van vraag- en aanbodfactoren in groeimodellen met één sector, mimeographed, Groningen, 1970.     

Special economic zones as an instrument to stimulate export production and economic growth within South Africa

The opening up of export markets and the consequent shift towards export‐oriented economic growth, in contrast to the previous focus on import substitution and protectionist policies, raise the question of the most appropriate strategy to be followed to attain this objective. In view of the protracted and extensive protection of local industry in the past. It could be expected that the manufacturing sector will not immediately be able to compete in international markets. This premise therefore excludes the introduction of an economy‐wide reduction in the level of protection in an effort to increase economic efficiency in general to enable South Africa to compete in foreign markets. This article then explores a second‐best option, namely the introduction of special economic zones (SEZs) as a mechanism whereby demarcated areas or individual firms are exempted from customs duties, import taxes and controls without exposing the entire protected domestic economy to the possible disruption of free international trade. The article specifically elaborates on what type of SEZs are the most appropriate for South Africa's circumstances, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of export processing zones (EPZs) with export processing units (EPUs).     

Pre-Industrial economic growth

Abstract

Karl Gunnar Persson has written a small book on a large subject — pre-industrial societies and technological progress.¹ For a book on economic history it is unusual, mainly because of the high level of abstraction on which it moves, but also because of some of the conclusions it reaches.     

Entrepreneurship capital and economic growth

This paper shows how and why the Solow growth accounting frameworkis useful for linking entrepreneurship capital to economic growth.The knowledge filter impedes the spillover of knowledge forcommercialization, thereby weakening the impact of knowledgeinvestments on economic growth. By serving as a conduit forknowledge spillovers, entrepreneurship is the missing link betwninvestments in new knowledge and economic growth. Entrepreneurshipis an important mechanism permeating the knowledge filter tofacilitate the spillover of knowledge and ultimately generateeconomic growth. The emergence of entrepreneurship policy topromote economic growth is interpreted as an attempt to promoteentrepreneurship capital, or the capacity of an economy to generatethe start-up and growth of new firms.     

Tax reform and economic growth

A conceptual framework and analytical scheme suggested in the present work explain the adverse effect of the tax reforms on economic growth in Russia. The author’s original classification of fiscal reforms, including the concepts of fiscal quasi-and pseudo-traps, offers a deeper insight in the specific character of the institutional change taking place in Russia. A quantitative estimate of the depressive effect of fiscal quasi-traps on national production is given.     

Total capital and economic growth

In contrast to the official estimates of gross private domestic investment and associated capital stocks prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the author presents estimates of total investment and capital, human and nonhuman, tangible and nontangible, by all sectors of the U.S. economy. Total investment is 3.1 times the BEA estimate in 1929, rising to 4.1 times in 1990. It accounts for almost half of adjusted GDP in the latter year. As hypothesized, real total capital stocks rise at about the same 2.9 percent average annual rate as real gross domestic product 1929–90, 0.1 percentage points more in the total economy and 0.2 points less in the predominant business sector. Increases in nontangible capital (mainly education, training, health, and research and development—“R&D”-) largely explain the growth in total tangible factor (capital) productivity in the whole economy. Nontangible, human capital has grown relatively faster in the business sector than in the entire economy, helping to explain its more rapid productivity advance. The author recommends that when BEA shifts to the U.N. standard system of accounts, it include nontangible and human tangible investments and capital in “satellite” accounts, as well as tangible investments for all sectors in the core accounts. This will greatly facilitate the analysis of economic growth. Presidential Address at the Thirty-Sixth Atlantic Economic Society Conference, October 7–10, 1993, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.     

Natural resources and economic growth

Summary In this century, availability of stock-renewable resources (primarily agricultural produce) and of stock-material resources (minerals except fossil fuels) will not constitute a bottleneck for continued economic growth of the industrialized countries, though their relative prices might increase somewhat. Prospects for continued material growth depend in significant measure on the future energy situation, however. During the second half of the 1980s supply problems might become acute because of limited availability of stock-energy resources and slow development of new sources (flow energy). Government policies may lessen the impact of probable shortages (energy conservation, energy price increases, reorientation of growth). Slowing down of material growth is to be valued positively.     

Foreign capital and economic growth

A new but simple model of the impact of foreign capital–in particular foreign direct investment–on the economic growth rate of poor countries is described and tested. A feature of this model is that it aims to allow separately for structural economic effects and the direct impact on the balance of payments position. Results confirm the favourable impact of aid flows and domestic savings, but suggest that direct investment is associated with structural effects that retard growth. An attempt is made to interpret these results in a wider context than usual for the purpose of assessing possible policy implications.     

社会信用与经济增长

一、良好的信用能促进经济增长和社会发展 最近全国都在谈论信用问题,企业界、学术界、政府、团体都在谈这个问题.为什么那么重要?大家看一看,由于诚信问题造成的损失有多大.最近我看了有位经济学家算了一笔帐,由于欠款,赖帐,由于假冒伪劣,由于不能按时交货,或者交货不付款,由于三角债等,这些直接造成的损失巨大,间接损失那就更大.有许多的生意人愿意跟外国人打交道,不敢与国内打交道,本国的市场太不可靠了,这样做生意的范围就变小了;还有因为各种不信用造成的各种法律纠纷,人事纠纷也都是花钱的,我估计整个的损失加起来相当我们国民生产总值的10%.换句话讲,我们有10%的财富,由于诚信上出问题给浪费掉了.如果我们在诚信上解决问题,我们就可以增加10%经济增长率,我们不用多劳动,不用多干活,10%就出来了.我们现在经济增长只有百分之几,如果我们讲好诚信,就有百分之十几的增长.这就说明诚信问题在经济增长中是举足轻重的因素.     

The interindustry cooperation of production complexes as an economic growth factor

Prospects for development of machine-building investment branches subject to the boosting of innovation in metallurgical complex industries are discussed. The article contains predictive appraisals of the effectiveness of interindustry cooperation achieved by the innovation renewal of fixed capital in the engineering industry and the metallurgical complex on the basis of coordinated innovation programs.     

Policies for economic growth

Summary The old growth theory of the 1950s led to certain conclusions about the sorts of economic policies that would promote economic growth, and also about their limitations. The new growth theory of the 1980s makes much stronger assumptions and leads to correspondingly stronger conclusions about the scope of growth-promoting policy. This article argues that: (1) empirical work so far has neither confirmed nor denied the strong assumptions underlying the new theory; (2) the theory is worth pursuing because of its intrinsic interest and the possibilities it opens up; (3) whatever the final verdict on the new theory, both theory and evidence support the belief that significant long-run gains, even if not permanent changes in the growth rate, can be achieved by increased investment in the broadest sense, including human capital, technological knowledge, and industrial plant and equipment.Fifth Tinbergen Lecture delivered on October 4, 1991, in Amersfoort for the Royal Netherlands Economic Association