This paper analyzes whether political outcomes in local democracies are determinedby the preferences of the median -typically poor- agents or whether they reflect thewishes of the wealthy elites. A model shows that when politicians belonging to differentgroups can form coalitions, the wealthy...

One of the key goals of political economy is to understand how in-stitutional arrangements shape policy outcomes. This paper studiesa comparatively neglected aspect of this - the forces that shape het-erogeneous performance of autocracies. The paper develops a simpletheoretical model of...

It has long been accepted that lack of social participation in wider society is oneaspect or one definition of poverty. Current concerns with the extent anddistribution of social capital as both a measure of a good society and as meansto upward mobility also emphasise the importance of social...

We exploit a universe dataset of state school students in England with linkedtest score records to document the evolution of attainment through school fordifferent ethnic groups. The analysis yields a number of striking findings. First,we show that, controlling for personal characteristics, all...

We document ethnic segregation in secondary schools in England in 2001 inorder to contribute to the debate on the degree of ethnic group social integration.We use indices of dissimilarity and isolation to compare the patterns ofsegregation across nine ethnic groups. We find that levels of ethnic...

We discuss political economy mechanisms which can explain the resource curse,in which an increase in the size of resource rents causes a decrease in the economy’stotal value added. We identify a number of channels through which resource rentswill alter the incentives of a political leader....