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Economic Calculation and the Productivity of Investment

  • Benjamin Powell EMAIL logo and Gonzalo Macera
Published/Copyright: January 18, 2017

Abstract

This paper explains why institutional quality impacts the productivity of investment. The existing empirical literature finds that a given level of investment creates more economic growth in more economically free countries. We draw on insights from Austrian economics, particularly the economic calculation debate and associated knowledge problems, to provide a theoretical explanation for why entrepreneurs are able to better value investment opportunities in more economically free countries which, in turn, leads to higher economic growth.

JEL Classification: O12; O43; G14

Acknowledgments

We thank the participants at the JBVELA conference hosted by Texas Tech’s Free Market Institute for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

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Published Online: 2017-1-18

© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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