Contents -- CESifo Book Series Foreword -- Preface -- 1 Introduction -- 2 A Structure for Understanding Growth -- 3 Knowledge Capital and Growth -- 4 Causation -- 5 Developing Countries -- 6 Developed Countries -- 7 The Economic Value of Educational Reform -- 8 Policies to Improve Knowledge...

This paper analyzes the evolution of inequality in Poland during the economic transition that began in 1989-90. Using micro data from the Household Budget Surveys, we find that, after a brief spike in 1989, income and consumption inequality actually declined to below pretransition levels during...

Although many U.S. state policies presume that human capital is important for state economic development, there is little research linking better education to state incomes. In a complement to international studies of income differences, we investigate the extent to which quality-adjusted...

How far is the world away from ensuring that every child obtains the basic skills needed to be internationally competitive? And what would accomplishing this mean for world development? Based on the micro data of international and regional achievement tests, we map achievement onto a common...

China's remarkable run of persistently high growth in recent decades is all the more stunning in light of the country's low levels of financial and institutional development, state-dominated economy, and nondemocratic government. Notwithstanding the inefficient and risky growth model, the...

We use the elements of a macroeconomic production function - physical capital, human capital, labor, and technology - together with standard growth models to frame the role of religion in economic growth. Unifying a growing literature, we argue that religion can enhance or impinge upon economic...