Catching up in the postwar period: Puerto Rico as the fifth "Tiger"?

William J. Baumol; Edward N. Wolff

doi:10.1016/0305-750X(96)00007-1

Catching up in the postwar period: Puerto Rico as the fifth "Tiger"?

William J. Baumol, Edward N. Wolff

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Puerto Rico experienced one of the world's most rapid growth rates in both GDP per capita and labor productivity - a performance that puts it into the same league as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Moreover, Puerto Rico significantly narrowed the productivity gap between itself and the United States. Special circumstances played a role in its development, including unrestricted emigration to the mainland, generous federal transfer payments, and special tax incentives for investment. But our analysis suggests that even without these advantages annual growth in GDP per capita would have averaged 3.8% over 1950-90, instead of its actual rate of 4.2%.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	869-885
Number of pages	17
Journal	World Development
Volume	24
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(96)00007-1
State	Published - May 1996

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geography, Planning and Development
Development
Sociology and Political Science
Economics and Econometrics

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10.1016/0305-750X(96)00007-1

Cite this

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title = "Catching up in the postwar period: Puerto Rico as the fifth {"}Tiger{"}?",

abstract = "Puerto Rico experienced one of the world's most rapid growth rates in both GDP per capita and labor productivity - a performance that puts it into the same league as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Moreover, Puerto Rico significantly narrowed the productivity gap between itself and the United States. Special circumstances played a role in its development, including unrestricted emigration to the mainland, generous federal transfer payments, and special tax incentives for investment. But our analysis suggests that even without these advantages annual growth in GDP per capita would have averaged 3.8% over 1950-90, instead of its actual rate of 4.2%.",

author = "Baumol, {William J.} and Wolff, {Edward N.}",

note = "Funding Information: *We are extremely grateful to Dean Angel Ruiz of the InterAmerican University at San Juan for his help in gathering the data and his valuable comments and suggestionsa nd to Alan Krueger and three anonymous referees for their helpful comments. We are also deeply indebted to the Andrew Mellon Foundation for its crucial support of this and other related research on the economy of Puerto Rico, and to the C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University, for its administrative and other forms of assistance to the project. Final revision accepted: August 28,1995.",

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N1 - Funding Information: *We are extremely grateful to Dean Angel Ruiz of the InterAmerican University at San Juan for his help in gathering the data and his valuable comments and suggestionsa nd to Alan Krueger and three anonymous referees for their helpful comments. We are also deeply indebted to the Andrew Mellon Foundation for its crucial support of this and other related research on the economy of Puerto Rico, and to the C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University, for its administrative and other forms of assistance to the project. Final revision accepted: August 28,1995.

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N2 - Puerto Rico experienced one of the world's most rapid growth rates in both GDP per capita and labor productivity - a performance that puts it into the same league as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Moreover, Puerto Rico significantly narrowed the productivity gap between itself and the United States. Special circumstances played a role in its development, including unrestricted emigration to the mainland, generous federal transfer payments, and special tax incentives for investment. But our analysis suggests that even without these advantages annual growth in GDP per capita would have averaged 3.8% over 1950-90, instead of its actual rate of 4.2%.

AB - Puerto Rico experienced one of the world's most rapid growth rates in both GDP per capita and labor productivity - a performance that puts it into the same league as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Moreover, Puerto Rico significantly narrowed the productivity gap between itself and the United States. Special circumstances played a role in its development, including unrestricted emigration to the mainland, generous federal transfer payments, and special tax incentives for investment. But our analysis suggests that even without these advantages annual growth in GDP per capita would have averaged 3.8% over 1950-90, instead of its actual rate of 4.2%.

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Catching up in the postwar period: Puerto Rico as the fifth "Tiger"?

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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