The principal components of growth in the less developed countries

This paper re‐examines the international evidence on the sources of growth in less developed countries (LDCs) using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Although EFA was first used in the development context by Adelman and Morris (1967) it has rarely been used since, despite being ideally suited to a...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Headey, Derek D.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Wiley 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162361
_version_ 1855537843631292416
author Headey, Derek D.
author_browse Headey, Derek D.
author_facet Headey, Derek D.
author_sort Headey, Derek D.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper re‐examines the international evidence on the sources of growth in less developed countries (LDCs) using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Although EFA was first used in the development context by Adelman and Morris (1967) it has rarely been used since, despite being ideally suited to a context in which a large number of latent factors have been hypothesized to determine growth, and in which an even greater number of imperfectly measured and multicollinear proxies have been used to measure these latent factors. This paper uses EFA to minimize these problems of omitted variables biases, multicollinearity and measurement error, by reducing a large array of hypothesized growth determinants into a parsimonious and non‐collinear set of composite indices. The paper then provides theoretical interpretations of the derived indices, tests their statistical significance and quantitative importance in otherwise conventional growth regressions, and uses these results to reappraise the usefulness of cross‐country empirics in deriving robust, policy‐relevant knowledge of the principal components of growth in LDCs, including the so called ‘economic miracles’.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace162361
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2008
publishDateRange 2008
publishDateSort 2008
publisher Wiley
publisherStr Wiley
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1623612024-11-21T10:02:35Z The principal components of growth in the less developed countries Headey, Derek D. economic growth economic development international trade inequality investment This paper re‐examines the international evidence on the sources of growth in less developed countries (LDCs) using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Although EFA was first used in the development context by Adelman and Morris (1967) it has rarely been used since, despite being ideally suited to a context in which a large number of latent factors have been hypothesized to determine growth, and in which an even greater number of imperfectly measured and multicollinear proxies have been used to measure these latent factors. This paper uses EFA to minimize these problems of omitted variables biases, multicollinearity and measurement error, by reducing a large array of hypothesized growth determinants into a parsimonious and non‐collinear set of composite indices. The paper then provides theoretical interpretations of the derived indices, tests their statistical significance and quantitative importance in otherwise conventional growth regressions, and uses these results to reappraise the usefulness of cross‐country empirics in deriving robust, policy‐relevant knowledge of the principal components of growth in LDCs, including the so called ‘economic miracles’. 2008-11 2024-11-21T10:02:35Z 2024-11-21T10:02:35Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162361 en Limited Access Wiley Headey, Derek D. 2008. The principal components of growth in the less developed countries. KYKLOS KYKLOS 61(4): 568-598
spellingShingle economic growth
economic development
international trade
inequality
investment
Headey, Derek D.
The principal components of growth in the less developed countries
title The principal components of growth in the less developed countries
title_full The principal components of growth in the less developed countries
title_fullStr The principal components of growth in the less developed countries
title_full_unstemmed The principal components of growth in the less developed countries
title_short The principal components of growth in the less developed countries
title_sort principal components of growth in the less developed countries
topic economic growth
economic development
international trade
inequality
investment
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162361
work_keys_str_mv AT headeyderekd theprincipalcomponentsofgrowthinthelessdevelopedcountries
AT headeyderekd principalcomponentsofgrowthinthelessdevelopedcountries