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2 - Structural Reforms and Growth

The Elusive Quest for the Silver Bullet

from Part I - Economic Growth and Structural Reforms in Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2020

By
Alessio Terzi  and
Pasquale Marco Marrazzo
Edited by
Nauro F. Campos ,
Paul De Grauwe  and
Yuemei Ji
Nauro F. Campos
Affiliation:
University College London
Paul De Grauwe
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Yuemei Ji
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

Structural reforms are often presented as a growth panacea. We review this concept through two separate analyses. First, we quantify the impact of wide-reaching reform packages implemented in twenty-three countries worldwide. Second, we look at the role that reforms had in contributing to spark 135 growth accelerations, i.e., positive up-breaks in growth patterns. All in all, our results point to the fact that deep economic reforms can have an important impact on a country’s growth rate but, often, they fail to deliver their benefits and, in some instances, they can even be detrimental. In achieving economic growth, there are no silver bullets. Rather, economic reforms should be framed as an opportunity that, if appropriately tailored to country-specific needs and well implemented, could yield important benefits.

Keywords

structural reformseconomic growthgrowth accelerationssynthetic control method
Type
Chapter
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Economic Growth and Structural Reforms in Europe , pp. 37 - 62
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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