Why are some people more optimistic about their life than others? Literature on locus of control suggests that optimism is associated with the belief that one’s life outcomes are controlled by internal factors, such as ability, instead of external factors, such as powerful others or chance....

Why are some people more optimistic about their life than others? Literature on locus of control suggests that optimism is associated with the belief that one's life outcomes are controlled by internal factors, such as ability, instead of external factors, such as powerful others or chance....

The last 10 years has seen an explosion in cross country econometric studies of growth, driven by two factors---new mathematical models of the growth process that lend themselves to econometric testing, and new data sets that make such testing possible. This paper looks at a selective review of...