This paper analyzes the evolution of poverty in Latin America. In 1998, about a third of the population was poor, and one sixth extreme poor. This represents 179 million poor people, of which 89 million lived in extreme poverty. The share of the populatio

Following the economic and legal reforms of the early 1990s, the Government of Mexico has developed new agricultural support programs that promote productivity and facilitate the adjustment process, while not interfering with the market economy put into p

Interpretations of David Ricardo's (and Adam Smith's) tax theory are presently dominated by an Anglo-Saxon perspective, though French physiocrats also played a role in its formation. Recent studies on economic thought often include a look at the historical precedents of a theory. This has given...

Interpretations of David Ricardo's (and Adam Smith's) tax theory are presently dominated by an Anglo-Saxon perspective, though French physiocrats also played a role in its formation. Recent studies on economic thought often include a look at the historical precedents of a theory. This has given...

We present a theory of the choice of alternative democratic constitutions, a majoritarian or a consensual one, in an unequal society. A majoritarian democracy redistributes resources from the collectivity toward relatively few people, and has a relatively small government and low level of...

In this paper we compare the classical general equilibrium framework of Smith and Marx with the neoclassical one of Arrow and Debreu, and find that these competing paradigms of equilibrium clash on a number of critical issues--efficiency, power, the role of markets, time, the nature of...

We start out from the hypothesis that limited government leads to low uncertainty and low transaction costs. If political institutions affect the degree of uncertainty and transaction costs, we formally show they should affect the steady state level of income per capita. The impact of...

This paper incorporates demand and supply fundamentals in the determination of the Real Exchange Rate (RER). We are able to confirm the negative influence of the ratio expenditure-PIB and the terms of trade on RER, but in addition we find robust evidence