countries, communities on both sides of the long-gone Habsburg border have been sharing common formal institutions for a century …

The interplay between religion and the economy has occupied social scientists for long. We construct a unique panel of … doubt on causal interpretations of the religion- economy nexus in Prussian secularization. …

the intensity of a conflict. The model combines elements from network theory and from the politico-economic theory of … conflict. We postulate a Tullock contest success function augmented by an externality: each group’s strength is increased by … efforts. We then perform an empirical analysis using data on the Second Congo War, a conflict that involves many groups in a …

We construct a dynamic theory of civil conflict hinging on inter-ethnic trust and trade. The model economy is … beliefs on the average propensity to trade of the other group. Since conflict disrupts trade, the onset of a conflict signals … after each conflict episode. Third, "accidental" conflicts that do not reflect economic fundamentals can lead to a permanent …

We estimate the respective contributions of institutions, geography, and trade in determining income levels around the … world, using recently developed instruments for institutions and trade. Our results indicate that the quality of … institutions 'trumps' everything else. Once institutions are controlled for, measures of geography have at best weak direct effects …

This paper opens with a discussion of the types of institutions that allow markets to perform adequately. While we can … identify in broad terms what these are, there is no unique mapping between markets and the non-market institutions that … institutions. A range of evidence indicates that participatory democracies enable higher-quality growth. …

as education, religion, fertility, and many others for Prussian economic development in the 19th century. The service of …