In this paper, we build a simple model to integrate the findings and/or hypotheses in the diverse literatures related to economic development and growth. They include the literature on institutions attributed to Douglas North (1990), on entrepreneurs, innovations and technical progress...

This paper delivers a simple model to generalize the successful trade liberalization experiences in East Asian countries as a strategy for attaining inclusive and sustained economic growth. The sequential approach, based on preserving existing production units while liberalizing trade-oriented...

Despite decades of experience and research, the effects of wage-labor regulations on long-run economic performance have rarely been studied since Stigler's (1946) classic exposition about the shortcomings of minimum wage legislation. In this study, we estimate and report the magnitude and...

Employing a novel empirical framework with a well-tested data set, we estimate the optimal level and transmission channels of the level of political rights on the growth rate of real GDP. Our study concludes that mild autocracy can raise the growth rate in real GDP by reducing government...

In this paper, we formulate a political system that can satisfy certain desirable characteristics, namely: 1. democratic participation 2. serving for universal interest 3. public sector efficiency 4. sustainability by incentive compatibility and virtuous cycles. It is a political structure that...

The development process and technological improvements since the industrial revolution are characterized by substantial increases in the quantity and variety of tools/machines/materials adopted in production. It is difficult to reject empirically that proliferation of tools variety is the...

In this paper, we build a simple model to explain the choice of migration method and the root causes of international human trafficking (IHT). Our analyses result in several implications on the problems related to IHT. First, IHT is driven by poverty and international productivity/living quality...

Several recent papers argue that contracts provide reference points that affect ex post behavior. We test this hypothesis in a canonical buyer-seller relationship with renegotiation. Our paper provides causal experimental evidence that an initial contract has a highly significant and...

We present an international trade model with multiproduct firms. Firms are heterogeneously endowed with two types of capabilities that jointly determine the trade-off within firms between managing a large portfolio of products and producing at low marginal cost. The model can explain many of the...

This paper reports data from a laboratory experiment on two-period moral hazard problems. The findings corroborate the contract-theoretic insight that even though the periods are technologically unrelated, due to incentive considerations principals can benefit from offering long-term contracts...