In March 2000 Bucharest entered into a concession contract for its water utility with the aim of turning around the utility's faltering performance. Under the private operator the utility has raised service quality above Romanian standards and toward Western European levels. By 2008 efficiency...

"The authors compare the two merger control systems currently employed worldwide: a mandatory system based on merger size threshold and a voluntary system with ex-post monitoring and fines. The voluntary system possesses two informational advantages: (i) the enforcement agency employs more...

"This paper explores endogenous institution formation under a catching-up strategy in developing countries. Since the catching-up strategy is normally against the compartive advantages of the developing countries, it can not be implemented through laissez-faire market mechanisms, and a...

"The authors analyze the relationship between international trade and the quality of economic institutions such as contract enforcement, rule of law, or property rights. The literature on institutions has argued, both empirically and theoretically, that larger firms care less about good...

In recent years, many international development agencies and non-government organizations have renewed their efforts to provide and promote indigenous knowledge orientation in development planning and practice. These efforts emphasize local knowledge systems and practices as valuable resources...

"The Subprime crisis largely resulted from failures to internalize systemic risk evenly across financial intermediaries and recognize the implications of Knightian uncertainty and mood swings. A successful reform of prudential regulation will need to integrate more harmoniously the three...