People's trust in state and political institutions is a key foundation of a well-functioning economy. We estimate the … impact of direct elections on people's trust in state and political institutions, using a major political reform in Indonesia … the causal impact of the reform. We find that district direct elections increase trust in all state and political …

corruption, may affect the access to credit for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Using a sample of 68 …-2014, we investigate whether the level of corruption affects their demand for bank loans. Overall, we find that the degree of … corruption seems to play a role in the applications for bank loans when small firms are under investigation. Interestingly …

resultant prosperity. We also emphasize that enforcing regulations is a complex task given corruption, informal markets, and the …

Examining the cases of Canada, Germany, and Spain, the role played by fiscal equalization schemes in determining …

countries. France, Germany, and Italy have large pay-as-you-go pension systems and vulnerable labor markets. At the same time …