We investigate the long term determinants of political and economic outcomes over a new data set composed of Mississippi counties. We analyze the effect of disfranchisement on voting registration at the end of the nineteenth century (1896-9), as well as the impact of voting registration on...

Both FY2007 and the ongoing FY2008 will go down as exceptional years in the history of Bangladesh. Fiscal year 2008 started its journey in the backdrop of the moderately high growth rate of 6.51 per cent achieved in FY2007. Experience of FY2007 was unique in the sense that it saw three...

Both FY2007 and the ongoing FY2008 will go down as exceptional years in the history of Bangladesh. Fiscal year 2008 started its journey in the backdrop of the moderately high growth rate of 6.51 per cent achieved in FY2007. Experience of FY2007 was unique in the sense that it saw three...

Numerous studies have tried to explain the poor growth performance of the Philippines. This paper critically reviews related literature on constraints to long-run growth, as it applies to the Philippines. We evaluate several factors, namely : culture; corruption; and institutions. The last offers...

This paper studies the effect of financial repression and contract enforcement on en-trepreneurship and economic development. We construct and solve a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents, occupational choice and two financial frictions : intermediation costs and financial...

We study a general equilibrium model in which entrepreneurs finance investment with optimal financial contracts. Because of enforceability problems, contracts are constrained efficient. We show that limited enforceability amplifies the impact of technological innovations on aggregate output....

Africa has been hard hit by the international crisis. Initially exogenous and above all financial, it has exacerbated various internal crises already present in the region. Like the DRC, which is a test case in many respects, Africa could experience severe setbacks that could cancel out the...

We study the evolution of market-oriented policies over time and across countries. We consider a model in which own and neighbors' past experiences influence policy choices through their effect on policymakers' beliefs. We estimate the model using a large panel of countries and find that it fits...

We explore the relationships between subjective well-being and income, as seen across individuals within a given country, between countries in a given year, and as a country grows through time. We show that richer individuals in a given country are more satisfied with their lives than are poorer...