The classic narrative of economic development -- poor countries are caught in poverty traps, out of which they need a Big Push involving increased aid and investment, leading to a takeoff in per capita income -- has been very influential in development economics since the 1950s. This was the...

The classic narrative of economic development—poor countries are caught in poverty traps, out of which they need a Big Push involving increased investment, leading to a takeoff in per capita income—has been very influential in foreign aid debates since the 1950s. This was the original...

Rule 501 (Acts Discreditable) of the AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct prohibits certain activities. Ostensibly aimed at protecting the public, Rule 501 is sometimes used to protect the public accounting profession, either at the expense of the general public or at the expense of some...

In the new millennium, the Western aid effort towards Africa has surged due to writings by well-known economists, a celebrity mass advocacy campaign, and decisions by Western leaders to make Africa a major foreign policy priority. This survey contrasts the predominant "transformational" approach...

Although a large literature argues that European settlement outside of Europe shaped institutional, educational, technological, cultural, and economic outcomes, researchers have been unable to directly assess these predictions because of an absence of data on colonial European settlement. In...

We establish the following stylized facts: (1) Exports are characterized by Big Hits, (2) the Big Hits change from one period to the next, and (3) these changes are not explained by global factors like global commodity prices. These conclusions are robust to excluding extractable products (oil...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) initiated a regional accounting certification program in the Russian language several years ago. It started in Central Asia and spread to Ukraine and a few other former Soviet republics several years later. Headquarters for the...

Accounting certification in the former Soviet republics lacks credibility. Accountants are not familiar with International Financial Reporting Standards or International Standards on Auditing. Certifications can be bought. Audit opinions can be sold. Financial statements that are auditing by...

The present study discloses the results of a survey on the ethics of tax evasion that was distributed to accounting, business and law students in New Zealand. Eighteen arguments that have historically been used to justify tax evasion were ranked in terms of relative strength. Analyses were done...

A few years ago Inglehart et al did a massive survey on various aspects of human beliefs and values. Their teams surveyed 200,000 people in more than 80 countries, asking hundreds of questions. One of those questions addressed ethical issues relating to tax evasion. The Inglehart et al study...