We analyze the role of risk-sharing institutions in transitions to modern economies.Transitions requires individual-level risk-taking in pursuing productivity-enhancing activitiesincluding using and developing new knowledge. Individual-level, idiosyncratic risk implies thatdistinct risk-sharing...

While some of the recent surge of oil prices can be attributed to robust global demandat a time of tight production capacities, commentators occasionally also blame theimpact of speculators for part of the price pressure. We propose an empirical oil market model with heterogeneous speculators....

Recent research on international productivity comparisons with historical data has encountered large discrepancies between benchmark comparisons and time series extrapolations from other benchmarks. Broadberry and Burhop (2005) have recently argued that for Hoffmann´s (1965) widely accepted...

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...