Showing 1 - 10 of 112
A growing body of empirical work measuring different types of cultural traits has shown that culture matters for a variety of economic outcomes. This paper focuses on one specific aspect of the relevance of culture: its relationship to institutions. We review work with a theoretical, empirical,...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013071464
This paper documents the speed of evolution (or lack thereof) of a range of values and beliefs of different generations of US immigrants, and interprets the evidence in the light of a model of socialization and identity choice. Convergence to the norm differs greatly across cultural attitudes....
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013053157
What obstacles prevent the most productive technologies from spreading to less developed economies from the world's technological frontier? In this paper, we seek to shed light on this question by quantifying the geographic and human barriers to the transmission of technologies. We argue that...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013035176
We discuss the two-way link between culture and economic growth. We present a model of endogenous technical change where growth is driven by the innovative activity of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is risky and requires investments that affect the steepness of the lifetime consumption profile....
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013080216
Regulation consists of rulemaking and enforcement. Economic theory offers two complementary rationales for regulating financial institutions. Altruistic public-benefits theories treat rules as governmental instruments for increas- ing fairness and efficiency across society as a whole....
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012774887
In this paper we present the results from a "corruption game" (a dictator game modified so that the second player can …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013131979
Corrupt officials can use their positions to enrich themselves in two ways. They can steal from the state budget--embezzling or misspending funds--or they can demand extra payments from citizens in return for services--bribery. In many circumstances, embezzlement is less distortionary than...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013135875
Does information about rampant political corruption increase electoral participation and the support for challenger … copious corruption not only decreases incumbent support in local elections in Mexico, but also decreases voter turnout …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013117216
We employ a regression discontinuity design based on close elections to estimate the rents from a seat in the U.S. congress between 1850-1880. Using census data, we compare wealth accumulation among those who won or lost their first race by a small margin. We find evidence of significant returns...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013117869
Recent years have seen a remarkable expansion in economists' ability to measure corruption. This, in turn, has led to a … new generation of well-identified, microeconomic studies. We review the evidence on corruption in developing countries in … light of these recent advances, focusing on three questions: how much corruption is there, what are the efficiency …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013120310