Expanded international data from the PIAAC survey of adult skills allow us to analyze potential sources of the cross-country variation of comparably estimated labor-market returns to skills in a more diverse set of 32 countries. Returns to skills are systematically larger in countries that have...

There has been a phenomenal global increase in the proportion of women in politics in the last two decades, but there is no evidence of how this influences economic performance. We investigate this using data on competitive elections to India's state assemblies, leveraging close elections to...

In seinem einleitenden Beitrag unterstreicht Ludger Wößmann, ifo Institut und LMU, dass Quellen modernen Wachstums in der Wissensgesellschaft vor allem Investitionen in den Wissensbestand der Bevölkerung (Bildung), Generierung und Vermarktung neuen Wissens (Innovation) und Kommunikation von...

Ludger Wößmann legt in seinem auf die Bildung fokussierten Beitrag dar, dass gerade Basiskompetenzen, wie sie von internationalen Schülervergleichstests in Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften erhoben werden, ein entscheidender Einflussfaktor auf das langfristige Wachstum von Volkswirtschaften...

We investigate whether a causal interpretation of the robust association between cognitive skills and economic growth is appropriate and whether cross-country evidence supports a case for the economic benefits of effective school policy. We develop a new common metric that allows tracking...

Economic development in Latin America has trailed most other world regions over the past four decades despite its relatively high initial development and school attainment levels. This puzzle can be resolved by considering the actual learning as expressed in tests of cognitive skills, on which...

A recent literature highlights the uncertainty concerning whether economic growth has any causal protective effect on health and survival. But equal rates of growth often deliver unequal rates of poverty reduction and absolute deprivation is more clearly relevant. Using state-level panel data...

Many scholars have argued that once "basic needs" have been met, higher income is no longer associated with higher in subjective well-being. We assess the validity of this claim in comparisons of both rich and poor countries, and also of rich and poor people within a country. Analyzing multiple...

Im ifo Schnelldienst 23/2010 wurde über erste Ergebnisse einer neuen wirtschaftshistorischen Forschungsagenda, die historische Entwicklungsprozesse mit mikroökonometrischen Methoden untersucht, berichtet. Sie greift auf einmaliges Datenmaterial preußischer Volkszählungen zurück, das auf...