ECONOMIC-GROWTH - A REVIEW-ESSAY

The last decade has seen an explosion of research on economic growth. Based on a selective review of this literature and the recent book on Economic Growth by Robert Barro and Xavier Sala-i-Martin, we see four main challenges for future research. First, to more tightly link theor y and evidence. We think a good way of achieving this would be to foll ow the methodology common in the business cycle literature of simulati ng models to compare their predictions to the data. Second, to develop new ways to empirically distinguish between competing theories of end ogenous growth. Third, to develop more theories of international produ ctivity differences. Finally, to collect detailed country data bearing on the process of technology diffusion. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V . All rights reserved.