This chapter develops a unified analytical framework, drawing on and extending the existing literatureon the subject, for studying the role of property rights in economic development. Itaddresses two fundamental and related questions concerning the relationship between propertyrights and...

In order to understand inefficient institutions, one needs to understand what mightcause the breakdown of a political version of the Coase Theorem. This paper considersan environment populated by ex-ante identical agents and develops a model of powerand distribution where institutions (the...

This article investigates economic performance when enforceable propertyrights are missing and basic needs matter for consumption. It suggests anew view of the so-called voracity eect according to which windfall gains inproductivity induce behavior that leads to lower economic growth. Takinginto...

This paper introduces wealth-dependent time preference into a simplemodel of endogenous growth. The model generates adjustment dynamics in linewith the historical facts on savings and economic growth in Europe from the HighMiddle Ages to today. Along a virtuous cycle of development more wealth...

This paper presents an account of the environment faced by entrepreneurs in Russia. Insection one we give a brief introduction to the country which is followed by theoverview of a public policy on small and medium enterprises in the next section. Thecurrent state of SMEs and some particularities...

Very little is known about the effectiveness of SME policies, and a careful look at thestructure, mechanisms and incentives provided by these policies suggest caution in theirimplementation and, most importantly, the need to carefully and closely monitor their results.This paper relies on the...

We use panel data on Mexican manufacturing plants to study the connection between plants´responses to changes in the economic environment and their contributions to aggregateproductivity growth in the period following the implementation of the North American TradeAgreement (NAFTA)...

This paper examines changes in individual earnings during positive and negative growthperiods in three Latin American economies: Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela. We askwhether those individuals who start in the best economic position are those who experiencethe largest earnings gains or the...

This paper explores the question: is working as a child harmful to an individual in terms ofadult outcomes in earnings? Though an extremely important question, little is known aboutthe effect of child labor on adult outcomes...

This paper argues that corruption patterns are endogenous to political structures. Thus, corruption can be systemic and planned rather than decentralized and coincidental. In an economic system without law or property rights, a kleptocratic state may arise as a predatory hierarchy from a state...