Many argue that elements of a society's norms, culture, or social capital are central to under-standing its development. However, these notions have been difficult to capture in economic models. Here we explore a possible role for "trustworthiness" as corresponding to social capital. Individuals...

This paper analyzes the interactions between growth and the contracting environment in production. With incompleteness in contracting, a firm's capacity to commit to its workers will depend on institutional frictions such as hiring and firing costs. This interaction of contracting structure and...