Showing 1 - 10 of 166
We use city-industry data from 1890 to 1940 to identify the impact of electricity on manufacturing. We exploit cross-industry variation in pre-electricity energy intensity combined with geographic variation in proximity to early hydroelectric power plants. Labor productivity gains from the...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012482295
We examine the long transition from water to steam power in US manufacturing, focusing on early users of mechanical power: lumber and flour mills. Digitizing Census of Manufactures manuscripts for 1850 to 1880, we show that as steam costs declined, manufacturing activity grew faster in counties...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014528423
We use an RCT to analyze the impacts of microcredit. The study population consists of loan applicants who were marginally rejected by an MFI in Bosnia. A random subset of these were offered a loan. We provide evidence of higher self-employment, increases in inventory, a reduction in the...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012460122
"Firms in Africa report "regulatory and economic policy uncertainty" as a top constraint to their growth. We argue that often firms in Africa do not cope with policy rules, rather they face deals; firm-specific policy actions that can be influenced by firm actions (e.g. bribes) and...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011394615
Although the theoretical literature on corruption is well developed, empirical work in this area has lagged because it … has proven difficult to isolate corrupt behavior in the data. In this paper, we look for evidence of corruption in an … stables play a role in facilitating the corruption. In times of increased media scrutiny, the match rigging disappears …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012470952
This paper offers a new interpretation of the connection between openness and good governance. Assuming that corruption … display lower corruption in equilibrium. In data, naturally more open economies' do exhibit less corruption even after taking …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012470985
less corrupt governments receive more foreign aid. On the contrary, according to some measures of corruption, more corrupt … governments receive more aid. Also, we could not find any evidence that an increase in foreign aid reduces corruption. In summary …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012471686
reduce the effective red tape it faces. The efficient grease' hypothesis asserts therefore that corruption can improve …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012471704
Corruption and imperfect contract enforcement dramatically reduce trade. This paper estimates the reduction, using a …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012471800
, municipal wages, and (unobserved) corruption are all predicted to rise under a patronage based regime. But in a city, patronage …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012471832