Based on firm level data from 16 Sub-Saharan African countries we show how three different measures of credit constraints lead to three different estimates of gender differences in manufacturing firms’ credit situation. Using a perception based credit constraint measure female owned firms...

We consider the effect of population age distribution in inclusive wealth accounting. Numerical results demonstrate that the wealth of nations with an aging demographic structure, as well as those with a rapidly increasing working-age generation, may have been overestimated.

We study the effects of economic shocks on civil conflict at the subnational level using a panel dataset of 5689 administrative regions from 53 African countries with yearly observations from 1992 to 2010. We find that economic shocks, measured by nighttime light intensity and instrumented by...

This paper shows that an asymmetric group debt contract, where one borrower co-signs for another, but not vice versa, leads to heterogeneous matching. The analysis suggests that micro finance organizations can achieve the first best by offering asymmetric group contracts.

This paper integrates the scale, composition, and technique effects of economic growth on pollution using a multi-output endogenous growth framework. Under certain empirically verifiable parameter conditions economic growth is not sustainable, even under an optimal pollution tax.

I examine the distribution dynamics of incomes across Indian states using the entire income distribution. Unlike standard regression approaches, this approach allows us to identify specific distributional characteristics such as polarisation and stratification. The period between 1965 to 1997...

Three components govern the impact of intangible management on the growth of SMEs: human, structural and relational capitals. The relationship with the institutional system of innovation (ISI) is novel. The results highlight that the ISI does not satisfy the needs of SMEs fully.

Recent research has established the importance of perceived (as opposed to actual) returns as a determinant of educational investments. We analyze data from India to highlight gender disparities in the perceived returns to education and the salience of productive characteristics.

Evidences from nonparametric and semiparametric unbalanced panel data models with fixed effects show that Kuznet’s inverted-U relationship is confirmed when economic development reaches a threshold. The model tests justify semiparametric specification. The integrated net contribution of...

We reexamine the association between poverty, the middle class, and institutional outcomes using a newly developed cross-country panel dataset containing detailed information on the distribution of income and expenditure. When the size of the middle class increases (measured as the proportion of...