This paper reviews some issues relevant to the delivery of public services. Itreviews some of the debates and flags some issues that are significantworldwide, especially in Africa. It emphasises how the debate has movedalong in terms of defining the relative responsibilities of the public...

Using U.S. manufacturing data, Griliches (1969) found evidence suggesting that capitalequipment was more substitutable for unskilled than skilled labor. Griliches formulated thisfinding as the capital-skill complementarity hypothesis. The purpose of this study is todetermine whether the...

Does fractionalization change over time? If so, are there any substantial implications foreconomic performance? To answer such questions, we construct a new panel data set withfractionalization measures for 26 former communist countries covering the period from 1989to 2002...

The paper enquires into the e¤ects of China’s entry into the WTO on its economic growth. We find that even in the short run (2001-2005), economic performance can be improved due to obtaining higher survival probability of economic growth rate and better protection of consumer welfare.

The paper enquires into the short run effect (2001-2005) of China’s entry into the WTO on its economic growth. We conclude there is no economic hazard with a …nding that China’s economy would enjoy a higher survival probability of economic growth rate and better protection of consumer...

This paper introduces endogenous longevity risk in an otherwisestandard overlapping generations model with capital. In the model, an agent mayincrease the length of her old age by incurring investments in her own health fundedfrom her wage income. Such private health investments are more...

The concept of social entrepreneurship as a characterization of social responsibility forbusiness organizations has gained considerable popularity. There is growing belief ininternational development and donor communities that this form of for‐profit activitymight be the long‐sought panacea...

This paper develops the theoretical foundations and the testable implications of the variousmechanisms that have been proposed as possible triggers for the demographic transition.Moreover, it examines the empirical validity of each of the theories and their significance forthe understanding of...

Conventional wisdom about the relationship between income distribution and economicdevelopment has been subjected to dramatic transformations in the past century. Whileclassical economists advanced the hypothesis that inequality is beneficial for growth, theneoclassical paradigm dismissed the...

This paper attempts to establish the trend of market development in Europe in thecenturies before the industrial revolution, by applying three different measures ofmarket integration to a compilation of monthly and annual price data. In contrast tomuch of the existing work, which suggests that...