Inequality's effect on growth remains elusive, largely due to endogeneity, complex interactions, and lead-lag relationships. We revisit this issue by examining the four main channels through which inequality transmits to growth: savings, investment, education, and knowledge production. We construct new panel data for 21 OECD countries spanning 142 years. External communist influence is used as a new time-varying instrument for inequality and the effects of inequality on the outcome variables are made conditional on the stage of financial development. Our results show that inequality hampers growth at low to moderate levels of financial development but promotes growth at advanced levels.

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Using data for 55 developing and developed countries, this research examines the roles of technology transfer, research intensity, educational attainment, and the ability to absorb foreign technology in explaining cross-country differences in productivity growth. The results show that innovation is an important factor for growth in OECD countries, whereas growth in developing countries is driven by imitation. Furthermore, the interaction between educational attainment and the distance to the frontier is a significant determinant of growth in the overall sample. JEL classification: O30, O40 Se rapprocher de la frontière technologique: la dichotomie entre innovation et imitation.. A l'aide de données pour 55 pays développés et en développement, on examine les rôles du transfert de technologie, de l'intensité de recherche, du niveau d'éducation, et de l'habiletéà absorber la technologieétrangère dans l'explication desécarts entre pays dans la croissance de la productivité. Les résultats montrent que l'innovation est un facteur important dans la croissance des pays de l'OCDE alors que la croissance des pays en développement est animée par l'imitation. De plus, l'interaction entre le niveau d'éducation et la distance de la frontière est un facteur déterminant et significatif de la croissance dans tout l'échantillon.

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This article examines how the frequency of board committee meetings impacts on Australian firms' financial performance. Data were collected from 118 Australian listed companies – including 26 financial firms and 92 nonfinancial firms – for the period 1999–2007. Analysis of that data shows that the frequencies of audit committee meetings and remuneration committee meetings are positively and significantly associated with return on equity and return on assets. The frequencies of risk committee meetings do not show any significant effects on the financial performance of Australian firms. Estimated results are found to be robust after controlling for internal as well as external governance mechanisms that might affect Australian firm performance.