0000000000708672
AUTHOR
D. Fiaschi
Growth Volatility and the Structure of the Economy
The aim of the chapter is twofold: (i) to propose a methodology to compute the growth rate volatility of an economy and (ii) to investigate the relationship between growth volatility and economic development through the lenses of the structural characteristics of an economy. We study a large cross-section of countries in the period 1970–2009, controlling for the stability of the estimates in two subperiods: 1970:1989 (Period I) and 1990:2009 (Period II). Our main findings are (i) the degree of trade openness has a destabilizing effect, while the degree of financial openness has not a significant effect; (ii) the size of the public sector displays a U-shaped relationship with growth volatili…
Colonies
The entry discusses David Ricardo's three main analytical arguments related to the colonial issue: i) colonies as a source of new fertile land and therefore as a viable solution to the problem of decreasing returns on domestic land; ii) colonies as possible outlet markets able to absorb domestic excess supply; and, finally, iii) the effects of trade restrictions between a colony and its mother country.