Abstract
The primary objective of this thesis is to test what determines industrial development and the extent to which industrialisation drives important country-level economic outcomes such as growth, globalisation, and poverty reduction. Global evidence indicates an inverted-U shaped relationship between countries’ level of income per capita and the share of manufacturing in GDP. There is, however, substantial heterogeneity associated with individual country experiences. Given this heterogeneity, it is unclear as to how the determinants of manufacturing’s share of gross domestic product differ across country groups at different levels of development, and if there are regional differences in these determinants. To test these relationships, Chapter 2 investigates differences in determinants of manufacturing for a world sample of 100 countries for the period 1970-2014. The study applies country fixed effects panel regression analysis to sixteen sub-groups of countries differentiated by stage of development, regions and endowments. The results reveal important differences in the determinants of manufacturing’s share, particularly for countries at different stages of development. Findings also contest the assumption that a common path of manufacturing-led development might be available to countries at all levels of development...
D.Phil. (Economics)