Often it is maintained that economic freedom may further high levels of economic growth. This paper compares various indicators for economic freedom. It is concluded that although these measures differ somewhat in their coverage, they show similar rankings for the countries covered. Some elements in these measures are, however, questionable. The robustness of the relationship between freedom an...

Somewhat incongruously, as global economic integration progressed the trend towards regionalism also strengthened. This paper introduces readers to the contemporary wave of regionalism. It delves into the principle characteristics of the second wave of regionalism, how it is different from the first and what is its texture. It focuses on regionalism in the Asia-Pacific region, which was slow to...

Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as a key factor in economic growth [Leibenstein, 1968]. Historical studies of commercialization a d industrialization suggest that the speed of "take off' is higher when entrepreneurs in related lines of activity work well together [Grassby, 1995]. In the aggregate, ntrepreneurs may work better as a cooperative network than as a collection of competitive in...

The proportion of a country's population living in urban areas is highly correlated with its level of income. Urban areas offer economies of scale and richer market structures, and there is strong evidence that workers in urban areas are individually more productive, and earn more, than rural workers. However, rapid urbanization is also associated with crowding, environmental degradation, and o...

There has been a growing interest of China‟s rapid economic growth, particularly agriculture-led growth and poverty reduction. In fact, China and Africa have developed their agriculture under different historical conditions. China‟s agriculture-led growth and poverty reduction and small holder based agricultural development policy can provide useful experiences for Africa countries to develop t...

About two weeks prior to each Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the Federal Reserve releases a description of economic activity in a document called the Beige Book. By creating a quantitative index of these qualitative reports, we examine whether the content of the Beige Book affects asset prices. The results indicate that more positive Beige Book reports on economic growth are asso...

This paper extends the recent empirical literature on the relationship between local decentralization and growth using data from both metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions in the U.S. The analysis utilizes both metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions, and thus avoids the possible selection bias present in previous research. The results for non-metropolitan regions indicate a relatively we...

This paper considers the causal relationship between employment, energy consumption and economic growth using a range of different approaches. The study finds long-run neutrality in energy consumption, except for electricity and oil consumption where there is evidence of uni-directional linkages from electricity consumption to employment and from oil consumption to employment. We also found tha...

Policy makers from around the world are trying to emulate successful innovation systems in order to support economic growth. At the same time, innovation governance systems are being put in place to ensure a better integration of stakeholder views into the research and development process. In Europe, one of the most prominent and newly emerging governance frameworks is called Responsible Resear...

Energy is an indispensable factor for the economic growth and development of a country. Energy consumption is rapidly increasing worldwide. To fulfill this energy demand, alternative energy sources and efficient utilization are being explored. Various sources of renewable energy and their efficient utilization are comprehensively reviewed and presented in this paper. Also the trend in research ...