JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 43 Volume 44, Number 4, December 2019 DETERMINANTS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: AN EXTREME BOUNDS ANALYSIS F ATIMAH HOSSEINPOUR a MANSOUR ZARRA-NEZHAD b , SAYED AZIZ ARMAN c AND AHMAD SALAHMANESH d a Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology, Iran b,c,d Shahid Chamran University, Iran The present study aimed to test the hypothesis of inadequacy of growth theories in developing countries by identifying the robust determinants of economic growth under uncertainty in model selection. The extreme bounds analysis approach was adopted, and nearly 11 million regressions were estimated. Results showed that in developing countries, the behavior of some potential determinants of growth, such as corruption and bureaucracy quality, is against economic growth theories, and some of other variables are weak determinants of growth. The findings also confirmed the power of variables such as investment and trade proxies. Keywords: Economic Growth, Extreme Bounds Analysis, Developing Countries JEL Classification: O40, O1 1. INTRODUCTION After Adam Smith’s analysis of economic growth, the first steps in the development of growth theories were taken in the 1930s and the early 1940s. Thereafter, numerous theories were proposed, all seeking to explain two problems, changes in the standards of living over time, and differences in the standards of living across different areas of the world. Growth theories have evolved over time. The examination of the evolution path of growth theories shows that evolution almost stopped for 15 years (1970 to 1985) because theories had become complex and very technical and also separated from empirical studies. Research on the economic growth flourished again in the mid-1980s with the work of Romer (1986) and Lucas (1988). Parallel to theoretical studies, empirical studies also attempted to identify the determinants of economic growth and