Working Paper: NBER ID: w12191
Authors: Andrew K. Rose
Abstract: I search for a "scale" effect in countries. I use a panel data set that includes 200 countries over forty years and link the population of a country to a host of economic and social phenomena. Using both graphical and statistical techniques, I search for an impact of size on the level of income, inflation, material well-being, health, education, the quality of a country's institutions, heterogeneity, and a number of different international indices and rankings. I have little success; small countries are more open to international trade than large countries, but are not systematically different otherwise.
Keywords: country size; economic performance; scale effect; panel data; international trade
JEL Codes: O57
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| country size (R12) | real GDP per capita (O49) |
| country size (R12) | international trade (F19) |
| country size (R12) | health outcomes (I14) |
| country size (R12) | education outcomes (I24) |
| country size (R12) | institutional quality (L15) |