We investigate the effect of electoral rules and political regimes on fiscal policy outcomes in a panel of 61 democracies from 1960 onwards. In presidential regimes, the size of government is smaller and less responsive to income shocks, compared to parliamentary regimes. Under majoritarian...

In a capitalist economy capitalists can sell their stake in a firm on the stock market whereas workers cannot sell their jobs. It is argued that when workers have some bargaining power this asymmetry in property rights leads to inefficiencies. The consequences of this are explored and certain...

Recent Eurobarometer survey data are used to document and explain the stock of social capital in 27 European countries. Social capital in Central and Eastern Europe – measured by civic participation and access to social networks – lags behind that in Western European countries. Using...

Labour market frictions are not the only possible source of high unemployment. Credit market imperfections, driven by microeconomic frictions and influenced by macroeconomic factors, could also be to blame. To develop this idea in a simple and tractable macroeconomic model, we treat credit and...

This Paper documents that the rise of (Western) Europe between 1500 and 1850 is largely accounted for by the growth of European nations with access to the Atlantic, and especially by those nations that engaged in colonialism and long distance oceanic trade. Moreover, Atlantic ports grew much...

Military priorities influence a significant proportion of the resources that capitalist societies devote to R&D. Some of the commanding heights of civil economies have been powerfully shaped by the opportunities created by specifically military R&D. This paper is an attempt to sketch the...