We use Chinese customs data to show that unofficial non-tariff barriers were responsible for 50\% of the overall reduction in Chinese imports from the U.S. during the height of the U.S.-China trade war in 2018 and 2019. We infer non-tariff barriers from the change in imports of U.S. products...

Blended finance---the use of public and philanthropic funding to crowd in private capital---is a potential way to finance a more sustainable world. While blended finance holds the promise of being catalytic in mobilizing vast amounts of private capital, little is known about this practice. In...

We develop a dynamic spatial growth model to explore the role of trade and internal migration in the process of spatial development and aggregate growth. Growth is shaped by the best global and local ideas that contribute to the local stock of knowledge. Global ideas diffuse more to locations...

Between 1880 and 1920, the US agricultural employment share fell from 50% to 25%. However, despite aggregate demand shifting away from their sector of specialization, rural labor markets saw faster wage growth and industrialization than non-agricultural parts of the US. We propose a spatial...

We study the demand for government participation in China's venture capital and private equity market. We conduct a large-scale, non-deceptive field experiment in collaboration with the leading industry service provider, through which we survey both sides of the market: the capital investors and...

Autocracy 2.0, exemplified by modern China, is economically robust, technologically advanced, globally engaged, and controlled through subtle and sophisticated methods. What defines China's political economy, and what drives Autocracy 2.0? What is its future direction? I start by discussing two...

1. The World Bank and Wolfensohn era reforms -- 2. The ABCs of the World Bank -- 3. A framework for modeling Bank behavior -- 4. The dynamics of epistemic economic change -- 5. Application to debt relief, participation and knowledge -- 6. Application to social capital -- 7. Application to...

"The Elgar Companion to The World Bank provides a comprehensive review of the past 80 years for this powerful development institution. Bringing together different theoretical approaches to studying the Bank from an expert group of scholars as well as insights from development practitioners, it...