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Growth Take-Offs

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Abstract

Following a phase of near-constant living standards lasting from Stone Age until the onset of the Industrial Revolution, a large number of countries have experienced growth takeoffs, in which stagnation gives way to sustained economic growth. What causes some countries to enter a growth takeoff while others remain poor? We discuss three mechanisms that can trigger a growth takeoff in a country previously trapped in poverty: fertility decline, structural change, and accelerating technological progress.

This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition, 2008. Edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume

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Doepke, M. (2008). Growth Take-Offs. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_2848-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_2848-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95121-5

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