Africa's interior-to-coast roads are well suited to export natural resources, but not to support regional trade. Are they the optimal response to geography and comparative advantage, or the result of suboptimal political distortions? We investigate the political determinants of road paving in...

We present a dynamic model of the interaction between interest groupsand policymakers, featuringendogenous interest group formation. We show that complicated dynamicpatterns in economicpolicies may arise once interest group formation is taken intoaccount.

This paper considers whether political business cycles exist in Eastern European accession countries.Section I introduces the overall objectives of the work. Section II provides a short introductionto the political business cycle literature. It also considers the role of exchange rates,...

This paper provides a theoretical model of pre-electoral budget cycle and tests its empirical implications. Whenelections approach, incumbent policy-makers have an incentive to signal their competency by acting on economicvariables. Rational voters incorporate the knowledge of such mechanisms in...

The 1997 collapse of the Albanian economy caused by the collapse of economy-widePonzi schemes contrasts sharply to itssuccess status as a post-socialist transition country in the years 1992-1996. Inthis paper, an attempt is made to explain this'Albanian Paradox'. The specific Albanian conditions...