Paradise Lost?: Growth, Convergence and Migration in the South Pacific

42 Pages Posted: 15 Feb 2006

See all articles by Paul Anthony Cashin

Paul Anthony Cashin

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Norman Loayza

World Bank - Research Department

Date Written: March 1995

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of growth for nine South Pacific countries during the period 1971-93, using the analytical framework of the Solow-Swan neoclassical growth model. Chamberlain`s II-matrix estimator is used to account for unobserved country-specific heterogeneity in the growth process, and to control for errors-in-variables bias in calculations of real per-capita GDP. The speed of convergence of South Pacific countries to their respective steady-state levels of per-capita GDP, after controlling for the important regional effects of net international migration, is estimated at a relatively fast 4 percent per year. In addition, private and official transfers emanating from regional donor countries have kept the dispersion of real per-capita national disposable income constant over the period, despite a significant widening in the regional dispersion of real per-capita GDP.

JEL Classification: F22, O47, O56

Suggested Citation

Cashin, Paul Anthony and Loayza, Norman, Paradise Lost?: Growth, Convergence and Migration in the South Pacific (March 1995). IMF Working Paper No. 95/28, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=883178

Paul Anthony Cashin (Contact Author)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Norman Loayza

World Bank - Research Department ( email )

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

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