Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/215653 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
CEAMeS Discussion Paper No. 11/2017
Version Description: 
Updated Version
Publisher: 
University of Hagen, Center for East Asia Macro-economic Studies (CEAMeS), Hagen
Abstract: 
The so-called 'deep determinants' of economic growth and development (namely, geography, institutions, and integration) have been found to be decisive for the break out of stagnation and for explaining cross-country income differences by many empirical studies. However, so far, very little has been done to examine to which extent they are also crucial at more subtle stages of economic development. Our paper aims to close this gap by focusing on the phenomenon of the middle-income trap (MIT) which has reached increasing attention in the last 15 years. In particular, we test whether the results of the empirical studies conducted by Acemoglu et al. (2001), Rodrik et al. (2004), and Easterly and Levine (2016) also remain valid when analyzing the MIT. We are the first to analyze the relationship between the deep determinants and the MIT, especially regarding the causal effect of institutional quality on the probability of experiencing a growth slowdown at the middle-income range. Our analysis reveals that while, in general, the deep determinants also seem to play an important role for the middle-income transition (and the question of whether a country falls into an MIT), some differences compared to the results of the standard literature become apparent.
Subjects: 
deep determinants of growth
economic development
economic growth
middle-income trap
geography
institutions
openness
JEL: 
O10
O11
O43
O57
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.