American Economic Journal:
Macroeconomics
ISSN 1945-7707 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7715 (Online)
Productivity Differences between and within Countries
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics
(pp. 169–88)
Abstract
We document substantial within-country (cross-municipality) differences in incomes for a large number of countries in the Americas. A significant fraction of the within-country differences cannot be explained by observed human capital. We conjecture that the sources of within-country and between-country differences are related. As a first step toward a unified framework, we propose a simple model incorporating differences in technological know-how across countries and differences in productive efficiency within countries. (JEL E23, I31, J31, O15, O18, O47, R23)Citation
Acemoglu, Daron, and Melissa Dell. 2010. "Productivity Differences between and within Countries." American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 2 (1): 169–88. DOI: 10.1257/mac.2.1.169Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- E23 Macroeconomics: Production
- I31 General Welfare
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- O18 Economic Development: Regional, Urban, and Rural Analyses; Transportation
- O47 Measurement of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
- R23 Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics