The food problem and the evolution of international income levels

Douglas Gollin; Stephen L. Parente; Richard Rogerson

doi:10.1016/j.jmoneco.2006.04.002

The food problem and the evolution of international income levels

Douglas Gollin
, Stephen L. Parente
, Richard Rogerson

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

164 Scopus citations

Abstract

In most poor countries, large fractions of land, labor, and other productive resources are devoted to producing food for subsistence needs. We show that a model incorporating the "food problem" can provide new and useful insights into the evolution of international income levels. In particular, we find that the food problem can explain why some countries started to realize increases in per capita output more than 250 years later in history than others. We also show that the food problem has important implications for growth miracles and the speed at which a country converges to its balanced growth path.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1230-1255
Number of pages	26
Journal	Journal of Monetary Economics
Volume	54
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoneco.2006.04.002
State	Published - May 2007
Externally published	Yes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Finance
Economics and Econometrics

Keywords

Food problem
International income differences

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10.1016/j.jmoneco.2006.04.002

Cite this

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title = "The food problem and the evolution of international income levels",

abstract = "In most poor countries, large fractions of land, labor, and other productive resources are devoted to producing food for subsistence needs. We show that a model incorporating the {"}food problem{"} can provide new and useful insights into the evolution of international income levels. In particular, we find that the food problem can explain why some countries started to realize increases in per capita output more than 250 years later in history than others. We also show that the food problem has important implications for growth miracles and the speed at which a country converges to its balanced growth path.",

keywords = "Food problem, International income differences",

author = "Douglas Gollin and Parente, \{Stephen L.\} and Richard Rogerson",

note = "Funding Information: We have benefited from the comments of Jeremy Atack, Robert Evenson, Tim Guinnane, B. Ravikumar, Diego Restuccia, and seminar participants at Brown University, CIRPEE-UQAM Montreal, Columbia University, University of Connecticut, SUNY Albany, University of Delaware, University of Pittsburgh, Vassar College, University of Western Ontario, Williams College, the NBER Summer Institute 2002, and at annual meetings of the Allied Social Science Association, the Econometric Society, and the Society for Economic Dynamics. Part of this work was done while Gollin was visiting the Economic Growth Center at Yale. Rogerson acknowledges support from the NSF. An earlier version of this paper circulated under the title, Structural Transformation and Economic Development. ",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jmoneco.2006.04.002",

language = "English (US)",

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AU - Parente, Stephen L.

AU - Rogerson, Richard

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AB - In most poor countries, large fractions of land, labor, and other productive resources are devoted to producing food for subsistence needs. We show that a model incorporating the "food problem" can provide new and useful insights into the evolution of international income levels. In particular, we find that the food problem can explain why some countries started to realize increases in per capita output more than 250 years later in history than others. We also show that the food problem has important implications for growth miracles and the speed at which a country converges to its balanced growth path.

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KW - International income differences

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JO - Journal of Monetary Economics

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IS - 4

ER -

The food problem and the evolution of international income levels

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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