This study examines the impact of two dimensions of the government, namely, size and quality, on two dimensions of the financial sector, size and efficiency, in a cross section of 71 economies. The study finds that while increased quality of the government as measured by governance and legal...

This study shows that despite a strong empirical association between gender differentials in enrolment ratios and democracy, that democracy alone does not explain gender differentials in education in Africa and Asia. The results indicate that income, employment in agriculture, religious...

We investigate the partial effects of institutions and human capital on growth. We find that cross-country regressions of the log-level of per capita GDP on instrumented measures of institutions and schooling are uninformative about the relative importance of institutions and human capital in...

What are the root causes of Africa's current state of under-development? Is it the long history of slave trade, or the legacy of extractive colonial institutions, or the fallout of malaria? We investigate the relative contributions of these factors using an instrumental variable approach. The...

Recent research shows that the majority of cross-national variation in institutions is related to history. The within variation however is somewhat less explored. We find that the within variation in economic institutions can be explained by trade liberalization. This relationship is robust with...

This paper analyzes the benefits and losses associated with cooperation among ASEAN members in mitigating their CO2 emission, particularly by implementing a uniform carbon tax across ASEAN. To achieve this goal, this paper uses a multi-country CGE model for ASEAN, known as the Inter-Regional...

The fact that most environmental degradation occurs in developing countries shows that they face difficulties in implementing environmental policies. It is hence extremely valuable to take lessons from any instances of the successful implementation of an environmental policy in a developing...

Pooling data for 1905 to 2000, we find no systematic relationship between top income shares and economic growth in a panel of 12 developed nations observed for between 22 and 85 years. After 1960, however, a one percentage point rise in the top decile’s income share is associated with a...

This paper uses a simple empirical approach to estimate vulnerability to food inadequacy using a cross-section data from the 2001 Timor-Leste Living Standard Measurement Survey. This measurement is based on the assumption that households are exposed to the same kind of shock. We find that the...

The Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA) came into effect in 1983 and the objective of bilateral free trade in goods between the two countries was achieved in 1990. This study provides a quantitative analysis of the Agreement’s impacts on specialisation,...