Recent years have seen a remarkable expansion in economists' ability to measure corruption. This in turn has led to a new generation of well-identified, microeconomic studies. We review the evidence on corruption in developing countries in light of these recent advances, focusing on three...

Many economic transactions are prohibited—even in the absence of health or safety concerns or negative externalities—because of ethical concerns that cause these exchanges to be perceived as “repugnant” if conducted through a market. Establishing a system of payments for human organs is...

This study analyses the impact of political connections on the operational performance of non-financial firms in Poland. Using a data set covering the 2001–2011 period, we find that political connections lower firm profitability, as measured on the level of income from sales. The negative...

The strength of the United Kingdom’s central finance agency (H.M. Treasury) has been attributed to its broad and powerful influence on policy issues; the high intellectual standards of its staff; the relatively clear division between the “official” treasury and the political level; and the...

Current education reform proposals involve improving educational outcomes through forms of market-based competition and expanded parental choice. In this paper, we explore the impact of choice through open enrollment within the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Roughly half of the students within...

This paper analyzes corruption as a collusive act which requires the participation of two willing partners. An agent intending to engage in a corrupt act must search for a like-minded partner. When many people in the economy are corrupt, such a search is more likely to be fruitful. Thus when an...

El Estado y el mercado son instituciones imperfectas. La idealización tanto del uno como del otro ha llevado a pedirles más de lo que podían ofrecer. Además, una de las consecuencias de la idealización ha sido una perspectiva de enfrentamiento permanente entre Estado y mercado en la...

This paper aims to provide a swift tour of the economic issues presented by vouchers and thus to fill an apparent gap in the literature for a basic survey of the subject. Among the issues it considers are: factors determining a voucher's cash-equivalence; reasons (such as paternalism,...