King, Robert and Ross Levine, "Capital Fundamentalism, Economic Development, and Economic Growth,” Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy 40: 259-92. 1994.

Abstract:
This paper critically evaluates the roles of investment and physical capital accumulation in economic growth and development. Should a modern version of capital fundamentalism - where capital and investment are viewed as the primary determinants of economic development and long-run growth - guide our research and policy advice? Our analysis suggests that the answer in "no." Capital accumulation seems to be part of the process of economic development and growth, not the igniting source.

The data are provided as both annual time series, 1950-88, where available, and as averages for the 1980s.

Data Set Description
This file provides the capital stock data used in the paper "Capital Fundamentalism, Economic Development, and Economic Growth,” by Robert King and Ross Levine. The data are provided as both annual time series, 1950-88, where available, and as averages for the 1980s. The files are:

• DATANN.WK1
  Annual data for Capital stock per capita (NKN) and Capital-Output ratio (NKY) for 136 countries. The maximum coverage for a country is 1950 to 1988. (Lotus 1-2-3 file)

• DAT1980S.WK1
  Capital stock and output data for the 1980s for a cross-section of 117 countries. The variables are:

• NKN80S Capital stock per capita, average for 1980s
• NKY80S Capital-Output ratio, average for 1980s
• YN8088 Real GDP per capita, average 1980s, Source: Summers and Heston (1991)
• GNKN80SC Growth rate of Capital per capita, average for 1980s
• GYP80S Growth of Real GDP per Capita, average for 1980s

• DAT1980S.WF
  
  This is a Micro TSP workfile and has the same data as DAT1980S.WK1