J. B. DeLong and others have shown that cross-country convergence in per capita incomes is limited to samples of currently-industrialized nations or universal-literacy nations. In particular, income dispersion has failed to decline in groups of ex ante rich nations. This study finds strong...

Conventional political wisdom holds that inclement weather on election day reduces turnout and helps elect Republican candidates. Analysis of National Climatic Data Center weather records and National Election Studies survey data for 1984, 1986, and 1988 refutes the latter hypothesis:...

Only three years after its endorsement by the World Bank and the IMF, the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC)--Initiative was considerably altered and enhanced. This policy shift can be explained as a result of utility maximization behavior by national and international politicians,...

Can process conditionality enhance poverty reduction in developing countries? We address this question in a political-economic framework with political distortions on the recipient and the donor side. Process conditionality is a useful tool only if the international financial institutions hold...

Presenting evidence from additional data sources, this study confirms the finding that the use of voter registration lists for jury selection purposes significantly reduces registration rates. Further, evidence is provided for the first time that a large percentage of Americans are aware that...

We argue that social polarization reduces the security of property and contract rights and, through this channel, reduces growth. The first hypothesis is supported by cross-country evidence indicating that polarization in the form of income inequality, land inequality, and ethnic tensions is...

Presenting evidence from additional data sources, this study confirms the finding that the use of voter registration lists for jury selection purposes significantly reduces registration rates. Further, evidence is provided for the first time that a large percentage of Americans are aware that...

Olson (1982) and Putnam (1993) provide sharply conflicting perspectives on the impact of private associations on economic well-being and social conflict. Olson (1982) emphasized their propensity to act as special interest groups that lobby for preferential policies, imposing disproportionate...