EXPLAINING THE UNEVEN ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE EU COHESION COUNTRIES:An Export-Led Growth Approach

摘要

This article explains the differences in growth rates between the cohesion countries of the EU:Ireland,Spain,Portugal and Greece.Employing a decomposition growth approach,it is found that the main driver of growth differences lies in productivity.The remarkably higher Irish growth rates in the 1990s are sourced to greater productivity growth resulting from higher investment in human capital and technology.The export-led growth approach reasonably predicts the growth rates and the prediction is more precise when differences in productivity growth are controlled for.Higher economic growth is explained by the higher income elasticity of exports relative to imports.