This paper shows that 19th-century industrialization is an important determinant of the significant changes in Germany …, economic ascent in the South. Exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in access to coal, we show that early industrialization … industrialization explains most of the decline in regional inequality observed in the 1960s and 1970s and about half of the current …

regional development. Africa provides a unique study ground because the arbitrary placement of country borders during the …

particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Official statistics has a major dual role: it directly adds to the information set of … in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. Given the information asymmetry problems in poor developing countries, this is not … liabilities is negative for richer countries and outside Sub-Saharan Africa. For richer countries, the relevant alternative might …