Why do people participate in community projects? Game theory approaches based on the prisoners' dilemma suggest that people will not participate even if they would have been better off had they all done so. This paper adapts an argument of Bates to show how a system of enforceable fines can...

The World Bank report Assessing Aid argues that aid can have positive effects on growth and infant mortality, but only when good policies are being followed by the recipient. It follows, especially since aid is fungible, and so cannot be targeted to particular uses, that donors should focus...