An empirical analysis of cross-national economic growth, 1951-1980

Using pooled cross-section/time-series data on 113 countries, we investigate empirical regularities in post-war economic growth. We find that coefficient values vary widely across identifiable groups of countries, with evidence supporting the convergence hypothesis apparent only in the OECD country sample. Among other results, we find that the growth of government consumption is significantly negatively correlated with the economic growth in three of four subsamples, including the OECD, and that political repression is negatively correlated with growth in Africa and Central and South America.