Research Output
1 - 10 of 25
Publication
Property transactions in Ireland , 1708-1988 : an introduction
1991-12, O'Rourke, Kevin H., Polak, Ben
Publication
Irish inflation : appropriate policy responses
2000, Thom, Rodney, O'Rourke, Kevin H.
This article argues that the cost increasing, supply side approach cannot adequately explain the current Irish inflation. It suggests that the correct model is one that is based on excess demand fuelled by continuing economic growth and demand-side shocks, including nominal exchange rate depreciation and lax budgetary policy. Evidence is presented to suggest that inflationary pressures have been building up in the economy for longer than is generally appreciated. As for appropriate policy responses, these include nominal wage increases above those agreed under the PPF but exclude tax cuts which, at the time of writing, seem likely to emerge in the December 2000 Budget.
Publication
Industrial policy on the frontier: lessons from the first two industrial revolutions
2023-11, Kelly, Morgan, O'Rourke, Kevin H.
In this paper we revisit the histories of the first and second industrial revolutions, focussing on the experiences of countries that were already rich by the standards of the time, on or close to the technological frontier, and which could reasonably have aspired to industrial and economic leadership. Did governments intervene to promote economic growth, technological change, or industrial leadership, and if so what form did these interventions take? Were some strategies more successful than others, and if so why? The paper is structured thematically rather than chronologically, since we lack the space required to provide a proper narrative history. In the remainder of this introduction we make some general points about the history of industrial policy, beginning with a discussion of the variety of forms that it has taken over time.
Publication
Land, labor and the wage-rental ratio : factor price convergence in the late nineteenth century
1993-05, O'Rourke, Kevin H., Taylor, Alan M., Williamson, Jeffrey G.
This paper augments the new historical literature on factor price convergence. The focus is on the late nineteenth century, when economic convergence among the current OECD countries was dramatic; and the focus is on the convergence between Old World and New, by far the biggest participants in the global convergence during the period; and the focus is on land and labor, the two most important factors of production in the nineteenth century. Wage-rental ratios boomed in the Old World and collapsed in the New, moving the resource-rich and labor scarce New World closer to the resource-scarce and labor-abundant Old World. The paper uses both computable general equilibrium models and econometrics to identify the forces causing the convergence. These include: commodity price convergence and the Heckscher-Ohlin Theorem of factor price equalization; migration, capital-deepening and frontier disappearance, factors stressed by Malthus, Ricardo, Wicksell and Viner; and factor-saving biases associated with induced-innovational theory, an endogenous response to relative factor scarcities.
Publication
Measuring protection : a cautionary tale
1994-11, O'Rourke, Kevin H.
The measurement of protection has been a key stumbling block for economists seeking to establish an empirical link between trade policy and growth. This note comments on a theoretically based index of protection recently developed by Anderson and Neary. The index must be calculated within the context of a specific CGE model; Anderson and Neary have found that the index is robust to changes in the elasticities embedded within their model? The note identifies one historical instance where the index is extremely sensitive to the specification of the model's demand side. There are important methodological lessons to be learnt from this example.
Publication
Irish economic growth, 1945-1988
1993-10, Ó Gráda, Cormac, O'Rourke, Kevin H.
The paper reviews the economic performance of the Republic of Ireland since 1945. Its focus is comparative; Ireland's record is assessed against the evidence in OECD and Penn Mark V data sets for a 'convergence club' of European economies, and is found wanting. The comparison confirms that the 1950s were a particularly bleak decade for Ireland but, more surprisingly, Ireland also performed less well than predicted by convergence criteria in both 1960-1973 and 1973-1988. The paper then assesses a range of explanations for this poor performance.
Publication
The Irish Economy During the Century After Partition
2021-04, Ó Gráda, Cormac, O'Rourke, Kevin H.
We provide a centennial overview of the Irish economy in the one hundred years following partition and independence. A comparative perspective allows us to distinguish between those aspects of Irish policies and performance that were unique to the country, and those which mirrored developments elsewhere. While Irish performance was typical in the long run, the country under-performed prior to the mid-1980s and over-performed for the rest of the twentieth century. Real growth after 2000 was slow. The mainly chronological narrative highlights the roles of convergence forces, trade and industrial policy, and monetary and fiscal policy. While the focus is mostly on the south of the island, we also survey the Northern Irish experience during this period.
Publication
The economic impact of the famine in the short and long run
1993-12, O'Rourke, Kevin H.
Publication
Open economy forces and late 19th century Scandinavian catch-up
1995-04, O'Rourke, Kevin H., Williamson, Jeffrey G.