The contribution of this paper to the social capital literature is threefold. It first develops an innovative framework for measuring social capital, which allows for quantification of five different components of the multidimensional concept of social capital. Secondly, it provides a single,...

Narratives simplify conceptual thinking about complex phenomena by providing interpretations and backgrounds based on standard linguistic schemes. As such, they offer an apt form for suggestive evocation of the many controversies on the impact of technology and science on world agriculture....

Why are certain movies more successful in some markets than others? Are the entertainment products we consume reflective of our core values and beliefs? These questions drive our investigation into the relationship between a society's oral tradition and the financial success of films. We combine...

Internet development holds the promise of transmitting economic value across physical space at zero marginal cost. In such a 'weightless economy', what factors matter for the location of economic activity and thus for economic development? This paper sketches a model of spatial dynamics over a...

As the pluralisation of spheres of life emerged, qualitative research became more relevant to study social relations. In an attempt to recognise the potential of the documentary method and of participatory research for the study of issues concerning the social and educational experiences of...

The article discusses the systematisation of the practice of political and trade union training of the Enfoc: Escola Nacional de Formação Político Sindical; of the Contag: Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores na Agricultura [National School for Political and Trade Union Training of the...

This paper characterizes economically optimal investments into Africa's road network in partial and general equilibrium - based on a detailed topography of the network, road construction costs, frictions in cross-border trading, and economic geography. Drawing from data on 144 million...

Are developing-world cities engines of opportunities for low-wage earners? In this study, we track a cohort of young low-income workers in Brazil for thirteen years to explore the contribution of factors such as industrial structure and skill segregation on upward income mobility. We find that...

This paper examines city formation in a country whose urban population is growing steadily over time, with new cities required to accommodate this growth. In contrast to most of the literature there is immobility of housing and urban infrastructure, and investment in these assets is taken on the...

This paper reviews the evidence about the effects of urbanization and cities on productivity and economic growth in developing countries using a consistent theoretical framework. As in developed economies, there is strong evidence that cities in developing countries bolster productive...