The understanding of the economic effect of formal institutional rules has progressed substantially in recent decades. These formal analyses have tended to take for granted that institutional arenas such as Congress are the places where decision-making takes place. That is a good approximation...

This policy brief takes stock of the research on government capabilities undertaken at the Inter-American Development Bank, highlights the relevance of government capabilities for generating better policies and higher levels of development, summarizes what has been learned about the origins of...

Las aduanas son las primeras y únicas puertas de entrada a un país. Sus funciones engendran por si mismas un monopolio de poder, ya que tienen la autoridad absoluta para permitir o no la entrada de todas las personas y los bienes a un país. Las aduanas son tan importantes que juegan un papel...

The presidential politics literature depicts presidents either as all-powerful actors or figureheads and seeks to explain outcomes accordingly. The president and the executive branch are nonetheless usually treated as black boxes, particularly in developing countries, even though the presidency...