This research argues that variations in the interplay between cultural assimilation and cultural diffusion have played a significant role in giving rise to differential patterns of economic development across the globe. Societies that were geographically less vulnerable to cultural diffusion,...

This research argues that variations in the interplay between cultural assimilation and cultural diffusion have played a significant role in giving rise to differential patterns of economic development across the globe. Societies that were geographically less vulnerable to cultural diffusion...

The positive association between the service sector share of output and per capita income is one of the best-known regularities in all of growth and development economics. Yet there is less than complete agreement on the nature of that association. Here we identify two waves of service sector...

This research explores the origins of the distribution of time preference across regions. It advances the hypothesis, and establishes empirically, that geographical variations in natural land productivity and their impact on the return to agricultural investment have had a persistent effect on...

Several recent papers suggest that the negative association between natural resource intensity and economic growth can be reversed if institutional quality is high enough. We try to understand this result in more detail by decomposing the resource measure, using alternative measures of both...

This paper presents a comprehensive set of stylised facts for business cycles in India from 1950-2010. We show that most macroeconomic variables are less volatile in the post reform period, even though the volatility of macroeconomic variables is still high and similar to other emerging market...

This paper examines the link between structural change and growth in India. It constructs indices of structural change, and performs a time series analysis of the data. It finds that 1988 marks a break in the time series of growth and structural change. There is one-way causality from structural...

This paper examines the link between structural change and growth in India. It constructs indices of structural change, and performs a time series analysis of the data. It finds that 1988 marks a break in the time series of growth and structural change. There is one-way causality from structural...

This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature on the effects of the real exchange rate (RER) on international trade, economic development and growth. We summarize the main conceptual issues, discuss the relevance of the RER as an instrument of development policy, provide an...