Three Essays in Demand-led Growth

The purpose of this study is to empirically elaborate the role of aggregate demand in determining output growth across different historical contexts. The thesis is first and foremost an empirical application of the Keynesian/Kaleckian principle of effective demand in the long-run. The role of aggregate demand has come to the forefront of macroeconomic research after the slow recovery following the the 2008 Global Financial crisis, and the thesis explores its importance in different historical contexts. It contributes to a growing body of empirical scholarship which shows that aggregate demand matters for economic activity beyond the short-run. The originality of the thesis is that it extends the theory of demand-led growth in new directions by expanding the scope of analysis, both spatially and temporally thus showing its contemporary and historical relevance. Each of the three essays in the thesis are self-contained and can be read as specific macroeconomic case-studies exploring the role and importance of aggregate demand.