Post-war reconstruction and the Golden Age of economic growth

This article briefly reviews the core literature on the Golden Age of economic growth ad tests the explanatory power of alternative theories, with particular emphasis on the reconstruction thesis as developed by Jánossy. While previosu empirical work on the subject used cross-sectional analysis, this paper employs panel-data techniques. It demonstrates that, for core western industrialised nations, relative growth performance during the 1950s and 1960s relfected reconstruction potential after World War II. Labour force expansion also made a strong positive contribution. In more peripheral OECD countries, structual modernisation made a more important role in catch-up growth.