Business cycles are less volatile in rich countries than in poor ones. They are also more synchronized with the world cycle. The authors develop two alternative but noncompeting explanations for those facts. Both explanations proceed from the observation that the law of comparative advantage...

Economic geography has become a mantra for many economists, geographers, and regional scientists. Previous studies have tested the importance of economic geography for production activities and found a significant association between them. Most of these studies, however, have not taken into...

Economists have criticized regulations that impose uniform environmental standards on plants that may face different marginal abatement costs and damage functions. Such critics ignore the difference in standard implementation across plants, giving rise to nonuniform standards. The authors...

How do different trading arrangements influence the industrialization process of developing countries? Can preferential trading arrangements (PTAs) be superior to multilateral liberalization, or at least an alternative when multilateral liberalization proceeds slowly? If so, what form should the...

The presence and persistence of substantial wage differentials between industries has been documented. Differences between industries could result from (1) the normal functioning of competitive labor markets (compensating differential levels of human capital), (2) institutional factors, such as...

"New"economic geography theory, and the development of innovative methods of analysis have renewed interest in the location, and spatial concentration of economic activities. The authors examine the extent to which agglomeration economies contribute to economic productivity. They distinguish...

The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing will abolish all quota restrictions in trade in textiles and clothing by the year 2005. Dismantling the quota regime represents both an opportunity (for developing countries to expand exports) and a threat (because quotas will no longer guarantee markets...

Since the early 1990s numerous countries have adopted or strengthened competition legislation. Kee and Hoekman investigate the impact of competition law on industry markups over time and across a large number of countries. They find both domestic and foreign competition to be major sources of...

The author looks at the feasibility and potential of instituting small-scale irrigation dams to reduce Ethiopia’s dependence on rainfed agriculture and the associated food insecurity. He develops a theoretical framework to assess the welfare implications of irrigation development programs and...

In the early 1980s Chile reformed its electricity sector, introducing a regulatory framework that became influential worldwide. But in 1998 and 1999 La Ni?a brought one of the worst droughts on record, causing a price system collapse, random power outages, and three-hour rotating electricity...