This study uses a newly compiled database of women's property rights and legal capacity covering 100 countries over 50 years to test for the impact of legal reforms on employment, health, and education outcomes for women and girls. The database demonstrates gender gaps in the ability to access...

Using a newly compiled database of women's property rights and legal capacity covering 100 countries over 50 years, this paper analyzes the triggers and barriers to reform. The database documents gender gaps in the ability to access and own assets, to sign legal documents in one's own name, and...

Recent data show that the institutional content of preferential trade agreements has evolved over time. Although pre-1990s preferential trade agreements mostly focused on tariff liberalization, recent agreements increasingly contain deep provisions in diverse areas, such as intellectual property...

This paper analyzes and compares the structure of cotton by-products industries in se-lected countries (Uganda, Tanzania, Benin, and Burkina Faso) in the context of the global vegetable oil market. It reaches several conclusions. First, because the markets for various edible oils are highly...

This paper provides novel evidence on status goods, using a series of field experiments with an Indonesian bank that markets platinum credit cards to high-income customers. In a first experiment, the paper shows that demand for the platinum card greatly exceeds demand for a nondescript control...

Despite the literature on rural land property rights, studies on urban land property rights are rare. This paper studies the impact of an urban land titling program on firm investment. It finds that the program leads to increased investment rate for titling firms, and the positive effect holds...