We construct comprehensive and comparable indices on the most relevant components of economic infrastructure. An unobserved components model is employed to cover the largest possible number of developing and developed countries over the period 1990-2010. We map major findings from the new...

This paper studies the remittances' effect on economic growth. Using panel data techniques, the authors estimate several specifications to provide support of such relationship for MENA countries over the period 1980-2009. The findings provide new robust evidence on how remittances are used in...

This paper examines the long-run effect of foreign aid on income inequality for 21 recipient countries using panel cointegration techniques to control for omitted variable and endogeneity bias. We find that aid exerts an inequality increasing effect on income distribution

In this paper, the authors investigate the determinants of weight for leisure in preferences. First, using a dynamic general equilibrium model, they back out the weight for leisure for an unbalanced panel of 52 countries over the period from 1950 to 2009. Then, the authors perform several panel...

There is a well-established literature on border effects covering trade between regions separated by a land border; however that literature has not so far considered the case of regions separated by a sea border. Whilst the former is typically studied as a political border that affects adjacent...

Whole-household migration potentially can alter the results of studies on income inequality based on panel data if it selects on household income. We model whole-household migration and its impacts on income inequality and poverty using a unique, nationally representative household panel data...

In this paper, we present evidence on the statistical features of observed dispersion in HICP inflation rates in the Euro area. Our descriptive exercise shows that there is still a remarkable dispersion of HICP inflation rates across the member countries. We find that most of dispersion...

Picture a small open economy in the North Atlantic Ocean, highly dependent on trade with the EU and NAFTA. How important are these trading blocs to the country's exports? How important is the country's location and size, and how do these affect the export sectors? A unique version of the gravity...

This paper focuses on the role of absorptive capacity in determining whether or not domestic firms benefit from productivity spillovers from FDI using establishment level data for the UK. We allow for different effects of FDI on establishments located at different quantiles of the productivity...

We assess the role of capital goods imports and inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) as transmission channels through which major emerging economies (BRICs, i.e., Brazil, Russian Federation, India and China) could catch up with advanced source countries in terms of total factor...