On the Robustness of the Left Corporatist Model of Economic Growth

Contrary to claims by Jackman, Hicks's revision of the Lange-Garrett model of 1974-1980 economic growth rates receives robust empirical support from regression analyses of Lange and Garrett's original fifteen cases. Jackman's criticisms of Hicks's (1988) "expanded" model founder once statistically appropriate procedures are used to gauge the stability of Hicks's estimates and statistical tests. Jackman's criticisms of Hick's "elementary" model come undone once the expository function of the "elementary" model is clarified and the theoretical and empirical merits of Hicks's "catch-up" specification relative to those of Jackman's "inertial" specification are elaborated. As for Jackman's two principal theoretical criticisms, that based on a majoritarian/consensus conception of government stands up poorly to an examination of the seminal text underlying that conception, while that criticism rooted in the Downsian theoretical tradition appears, at best, precariously supported by that intellectuall lineage.