Patterns of political unification and fragmentation have crucial implications for comparative economic development. Diamond (1997) famously argued that “fractured land” was responsible for China's tendency toward political unification and Europe's protracted political fragmentation. We build...

This paper overviews theoretical and empirical contributions that study political borders from an economic perspective. It reviews theories of the number and size of nations focused on the trade-off between economies of scale in public-good provision and heterogeneity of preferences over public...

Deterrence has been a crucial element in fighting terrorism, both in politics and in rational choice analyses of terrorism. However, there are two strategies that are superior to deterrence. The first one is to make terrorist attacks less devastating and less attractive to terrorists through...

Present anti-terrorist policy concentrates almost exclusively on deterrence. It seeks to fend off terrorism by raising the cost of undertaking terrorist acts. This paper argues that deterrence policy is less effective than generally thought and induces in some cases even more terrorism. This is,...

Deterrence has been a crucial element in fighting terrorism, both in politics and in rational choice analyses of terrorism. However, there are two strategies that are superior to deterrence. The first one is to make terrorist attacks less devastating and less attractive to terrorists through...

Deterrence has been a crucial element in fighting terrorism, both in politics and in rational choice analyses of terrorism. However, there are two strategies that are superior to deterrence. The first one is to make terrorist attacks less devastating and less attractive to terrorists through...

The global economic crisis refocused attention on the governance of international economic institutions (IEIs). This study uses the analytical framework of club theory to highlight structural obstacles to reform in international macroeconomic management, development finance, trade, and financial...

Im Zuge der europäischen Integration haben die nationalen Regierungen Kompetenzen an europäische Institutionen abgegeben. Die Folge ist, daß die ökonomische Entwicklung in der EU mehr und mehr von wirtschaftsräumlichen Faktoren anstatt von administrativen nationalen Unterschieden bestimmt...

Sustainability tends to become in the new millennium the most important characteristic of economic and social development. The possibility to ensure economic development in the context of a reasonable use of raw materials, energy and natural resources in general and to decrease the impact of all...