The impact that the francoist autarkic economic policy had on the Spanish economy is assessed using the Domestic Resource Cost (DRC) as an indicator. This indicator compares the real opportunity cost of the primary factors used in the production of a certain good with its aggregated value at...

This paper uses a stochastic cost frontier model to investigate the efficiency of Britain’s private railways during the period 1893-1912. We find that there was substantial inefficiency in the industry with no sign of reduction over time. Our main conclusion is that principal agent problems...

There are N citizens who have to make a social decision about a set policies denotedby x ∈ A, where A denotes the set of feasible policies. Citizen’s preferencesover policy are denoted V i (x, j) ( where i = 1, ...,N) ,and j denotes the identityof the policy maker. This specification allows...

In a model with heterogeneity in managerial talent, we compare the economicand political consequences of reforms aimed at reducing fixed costs of entry (deregulation)and improving the efficiency of financial markets (financial reform). Theeffects of these reforms depend on the market where...

Why are some countries so much richer than others? Development Accounting is a first-passattempt at organizing the answer around two proximate determinants: factors of productionand efficiency. It answers the question “how much of the cross-country income variance canbe attributed to...