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Solow vs. Solow: Notes on identification and interpretation in the empirics of growth and development

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  • Gundlach, Erich

Abstract

Most empirical studies of long run growth refer to one of the two seminal contributions by Robert Solow (1956, 1957). His work shows that in order to estimate the relative roles of factor accumulation and technology in development, an a priori identification assumption is needed about the nature of technical change. This specific assumption differs across the two Solow papers. I show that starting with the identification assumption made in Solow (1956), one should expect to find that differences in technology rather than differences in factor accumulation explain most if not all of the observed long-run differences in output per worker. The opposite interpretation appears to prevail in parts of the recent literature on the empirics of growth.

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  • Gundlach, Erich, 2005. "Solow vs. Solow: Notes on identification and interpretation in the empirics of growth and development," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 3728, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:3728
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    3. Alessandro Bellocchi & Giuseppe Travaglini & Beatrice Vitali, 2023. "How capital intensity affects technical progress: An empirical analysis for 17 advanced economies," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 606-631, July.
    4. Acikgoz, Senay & Ben Ali, Mohamed Sami, 2019. "Where does economic growth in the Middle Eastern and North African countries come from?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 172-183.
    5. Matthias Busse & Jens Koeniger, 2015. "Trade and economic growth: A re-examination of the empirical evidence," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2862-2876.
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    7. Erich Gundlach, 2006. "The Solow Model in the Empirics of Cross-Country Growth," DEGIT Conference Papers c011_015, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.

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