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Ruggedness: The Blessing of Bad Geography in Africa
Nunn, Nathan; Puga, Diego - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2007
There is controversy about whether geography matters mainly because of its contemporaneous impact on economic outcomes or because of its interaction with historical events. Looking at terrain ruggedness, we are able to estimate the importance of these two channels. Because rugged terrain hinders...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005136410
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Regime Change, Democracy and Growth
Freund, Caroline; Jaud, Mélise - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2013
regime change and not democratization. We identify and examine 90 successful, failed, and gradual transitions that have … occurred over the last half century. This new classification permits us to compare successful episodes of democratization with … that the growth dividend from political transition is a result of regime change and not democratization, and also offer new …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011084006
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Local quality of government and migration. Evidence for European regions
Ketterer, Tobias; Rodriguez-Pose, Andres - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2014
In this paper we investigate the impact of local quality of government on the attractiveness of European regions to migrants. The analysis is based on panel data estimations of 254 regions for the period between 1995 and 2009. Different instrumental variable techniques have been employed in...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011084341
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Long Term Persistence
Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2008
Is social capital long lasting? Does it affect long term economic performance? To answer these questions we test Putnam’s conjecture that today marked differences in social capital between the North and South of Italy were due to the culture of independence fostered by the free city-states...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005789085
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Norms and Institution Formation
Francois, Patrick - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2008
This paper analyzes the dynamic interaction between norms - internalized restraints on opportunistic behaviour - and institutions - restraints on such behaviour deriving from external enforcement. When individuals following a norm suffer pecuniary losses to doing so, the norm is eroded....
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005791452
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Legal Institutions and Economic Development
Beck, Thorsten - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2010
Legal institutions are critical for the development of market-based economies. This paper defines legal institutions and discusses different indicators to measure their quality and efficiency. It surveys a large historical and empirical literature showing the importance of legal institutions in...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10008784706
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The 'Out of Africa' Hypothesis, Human Genetic Diversity, and Comparative Economic Development
Ashraf, Quamrul; Galor, Oded - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2011
This research argues that deep-rooted factors, determined tens of thousands of years ago, had a significant effect on the course of economic development from the dawn of human civilization to the contemporary era. It advances and empirically establishes the hypothesis that, in the course of the...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10009209826
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The Long-Lived Effects of Historic Climate on the Wealth of Nations
Bluedorn, John; Valentinyi, Akos; Vlassopoulos, Michael - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2009
We investigate the long-run consequences of historic, climatic temperatures (1730-2000) for the modern cross-country income distribution. Using a newly constructed dataset of climatic temperatures stretching over three centuries (18th, 19th, and 20th), we estimate a robust and significant...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10008491725
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The Economic Impact of the Little Ice Age
Kelly, Morgan; Van Tran, Quang - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2010
for survival. We find that weather strongly affected crop yields, but can find little evidence that western Europe … anthropogenic global warming. Our results suggest that the existing consensus about a Little Ice Age in western Europe stems from a …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10008468619
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Human Genetic Diversity and Comparative Economic Development
Ashraf, Quamrul; Galor, Oded - C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers - 2008
This research contributes to the understanding of human genetic diversity within a society as a significant determinant of its economic development. The hypothesis advanced and empirically examined in this paper suggests that there are socioeconomic trade-offs associated with genetic diversity...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005123897