TY  - JOUR
AU  - Buera,Francisco J.
AU  - Monge-Naranjo,Alexander
AU  - Primiceri,Giorgio E.
TI  - Learning the Wealth of Nations
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14595
PY  - 2008
Y2  - December 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14595
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14595.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Francisco J. Buera
Department of Economics
University of California, Los Angeles
8283 Bunche Hall Office 8357
Mail Stop: 147703
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Tel: 310/825-8018
Fax: 310/825-9528
E-Mail: fjbuera@econ.ucla.edu

Alexander Monge-Naranjo
Department of Economics
Pennsylvania State University
502 Kern Graduate Building
University Park, PA 16802-3306
E-Mail: aum26@psu.edu

Giorgio Primiceri
Department of Economics
Northwestern University
318 Andersen Hall
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208-2600
Tel: 847/491-5395
Fax: 847/491-7001
E-Mail: g-primiceri@northwestern.edu
AB  - We study the evolution of market-oriented policies over time and across countries. We consider a model in which own and neighbors' past experiences influence policy choices, through their effect on policymakers' beliefs. We estimate the model using a large panel of countries. We find that there is a strong geographical component to learning, which is crucial to explain the slow adoption of liberal policies during the postwar period. Our model also predicts that there would be a substantial reversal to state intervention if nowadays the world was hit by a shock of the size of the Great Depression.
ER  -