Sample sizes in cross-country growth regressions vary greatly, depending on data availability. But if the selected samples are not representative of the underlying population of nations in the world, ordinary least squares coefficients (OLS) may be biased. This paper examines the determinants of economic growth in cross-sectional samples of countries utilizing econometric techniques that take into account the selective nature of the samples. The paper first models the determinants of sample selection in cross-country growth studies. Then, the regression results of some of the major contributions to the empirical growth literature are re-examined using a bivariate selectivity model.Our analysis suggests that sample selection bias could significantly change the results of empirical growth analysis, depending on the specific sample utilized.