Early states like China, India, Italy and Greece have been experiencing more rapid economic growth in recent decades than have later-comers to agriculture and statehood like New Guinea, the Congo, and Uruguay. We show that more rapid growth by early starters has been the norm in economic...

This study explores the economic consequences of earthquakes. In particular, it is investigated how exposure to earthquakes affects economic growth both across and within countries. The key result of the empirical analysis is that while there are no observable effects at the country level,...

This research argues that variations in the interplay between cultural assimilation and cultural diffusion have played a significant role in giving rise to differential patterns of economic development across the globe. Societies that were geographically less vulnerable to cultural diffusion,...

Im Jahr 1930 veröffentlichte Keynes einen Aufsatz über die Zukunft der Enkel, in dem er die Lösung des ökonomischen Problems und mithin das Ende der bisherigen Menschheitsgeschichte prognostizierte. Diese Prognose und die zahlreichen Implikationen, die Keynes aus ihr herleitete, werden hier...

This paper examines the effect of agricultural development on a country's overall development and growth experience. In most poor countries, large fractions of land, labor, and other productive resources are devoted to producing food for subsistence needs. This 'food problem' can delay a...

In this paper, I discuss the reasons for Costa Rica's economic performance over the last quarter of a century. Three complementary sets of policies (investments in human capital, careful stabilization, and an intelligent and aggressive integration into the world economy) explain the successful...

Oman and Bahrain are Middle Eastern success stories. There are some key similarities. Both have followed pragmatic development strategies built on a stable foundation of strengthened governance structures and enhanced economic liberalization. These improvements occurred in somewhat different...

This research explores the origins of the distribution of time preference across regions. It advances the hypothesis, and establishes empirically, that geographical variations in natural land productivity and their impact on the return to agricultural investment have had a persistent effect on...