This paper looks at the relationship between natural resource endowment, particularly the type associated with minerals and plantations, and economic development. It may not be natural resource endowment per se but its type that matters, when it comes to growth and development. Certain types of...

The authors examine whether greater inter-state trade, democracy and reduced military spending lower belligerence between India and Pakistan. They begin with theoretical models covering the opportunity costs of conflict in terms of trade losses and security spending, as well as the costs of...

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of increased trade on wage inequality in developing countries, and whether a higher human capital stock moderates this effect. We look at the skilled-unskilled wage differential. High initial endowments of human capital imply a more egalitarian...

We investigate factors responsible for low public sector human capital investment in Pakistan. The debt servicing burden coupled with a rising debt stock can impact on human capital expenditure. To account for this, a Debt Net Cost Index is developed to measure the evolving net cost of public...

This article analyses credibility and reputation in the context of peace negotiations. The model is applicable to the credibility of peace agreements in post-conflict situations in the immediate aftermath of civil war, where there is a danger of conflict breaking out again. The analysis is...

Reducing or writing off the debts of the 41 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) can potentially reduce social conflict by releasing resources from debt-service to enable governments to make fiscal transfers that lower the grievances of rebels (when conflict is partly rooted in grievances...

Two phenomena have been recently utilized to explain conflict onset: greed and grievance. The former reflects elite competition over valuable natural resource rents. The latter argues that grievance fuels conflict. Central to grievance are concepts of interethnic or horizontal inequality....