This paper explores the links among natural disasters, climate change and economic development, and attempts to outline a framework for considering these links. The paper summarises the limited knowledge of the long-term economic impact of natural disasters. Drawing links among disasters,...

This important book tackles some of the main security challenges facing the international development community today. Containing contributions by leading experts, including some who have been at the centre of the international policy debate, it goes further by putting forward suggestions and...

Measures of cognitive, noncognitive, and technical skills are increasingly used in development economics to analyze the determinants of skill formation, the role of skills in economic decisions, or simply because they are potential confounders. Yet in most cases, these measures have only been...

This paper analyzes the impact of economic prospects on one’s time preference. Research in psychol- ogy has shown how individuals modify their preferences in order to reduce their cognitive dissonance, which is the uncomfortable tension felt when simultaneously holding conflicting thoughts. It...

We report the results of a randomized experiment testing impacts of subsidies for modern agricultural inputs in rural Mozambique. One-time provision of a voucher for fertilizer and improved seeds leads to substantial increases in fertilizer use, which persist through two subsequent agricultural...

This paper sheds light on the relationship between oil rent and the allocation of talent, toward rent-seeking versus more productive activities, conditional on the quality of institutions. Using a sample of 69 developing countries, we demonstrate that oil resources orient university students...

The authors assess the effect of economic instability on the success of projects funded by the World Bank using the outcome of the projects, which is a notation of their overall success determined by the Bank's Independent Evaluation Group. It has been argued in macroeconomic studies that aid...

Evidence has shown that the allocation of talented people affects the long-term growth. It has been found that a large population of engineers tends to foster innovation and growth more rapidly than population of lawyers and other activities with access to the public rent. Yet little is known...

A common concern in reform programs is the potential inflationary effects of the combination of devaluation, trade liberalization, subsidy reduction, and price decontrol This issue is critical in Africa, where inflation has accelerated in several countries, particularly those undergoing...