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THE 2008 LAWRENCE R. KLEIN LECTURE—COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: INSIGHTS FROM UNIFIED GROWTH THEORY *
Author(s) -
Galor Oded
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international economic review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.658
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1468-2354
pISSN - 0020-6598
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2354.2009.00569.x
Subject(s) - pace , globe , convergence (economics) , growth theory , economic geography , economics , human capital , per capita , development economics , per capita income , neoclassical economics , development theory , variation (astronomy) , geography , economic growth , sociology , demography , biology , population , geodesy , neuroscience , physics , astrophysics
This article explores the implications of Unified Growth Theory for the origins of existing differences in income per capita across countries. The theory sheds light on three fundamental layers of comparative development. It identifies the factors that have governed the pace of the transition from stagnation to growth and have thus contributed to contemporary variation in economic development. It uncovers the forces that have sparked the emergence of multiple growth regimes and convergence clubs, and it underlines the persistent effects that variations in prehistorical biogeographical conditions have generated on the composition of human capital and economic development across the globe.