This paper presents a synergy-based model of foreign investment and international takeovers in industrial countries. Takeovers of (or mergers with) firms abroad are used to appropriate local technology spillovers requiring geographical proximity, exploit intra-firm technology transfers, and...

We formulate a knowledge-based model of direct investment through mergers and acquisitions. Mamp;As are realized to create comparative advantages by exploiting international synergies and appropriating local technology spillovers requiring geographical proximity, but can also represent a...

The paper examines the real per-capita growth effects of the quality of democracy, the rule of law, and capital flows in developing countries. The direct growth effects of democracy are positive and often statistically significant. Moreover, the estimates from a three-stage least-squares...

This paper studies the structure and evolution of trade protection in the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries in the 1990s. MENA countries use tariffs and nontariff barriers, and tariff dispersion and nontariff barriers, as substitute protection measures. Tariff levels and tariff...

The paper models the choice between currency boards (CBs) and adjustable pegs (or managed floating). Countries adopting CBs have grown faster and inflated less on average than countries adopting other regimes. The explanation hinges on key features of CBs: policy discipline and inflation...

The field of international trade has been a focus of renewed debate for academics and policy-makers alike. The progressive integration of economics at a worldwide level have led to debates surrounding the migration of labor markets, restrictive trade practices, the impact of foreign investment,...

This paper finds convergence of real per capita GDP in Mexico’s states and regions during the period of higher average national per capita growth (1970-85), and divergence during the lower-growth period (1985-93). These results hold across states and regions and within regions. The poorest...

Employment rates in Puerto Rico range from 55 to 65 percent of U.S. rates during the past thirty years. This huge employment shortfall holds for men and women, cuts across all education groups, and is deeper for persons without a college degree. The shortfall is concentrated in the private...