This paper argues that migration could trigger institutional development in the sending country. It is shown that the existence of rent-seeking institutions not only hinders the adoption of a more efficient technology, it also reinforces itself; while the possibility of migrating to a more...

The hypothesis that economic freedom and related variables are significant determinants of real per capita income and growth is critically evaluated. Economic freedom is found necessary for higher levels of per capita income and growth largely in terms of threshold effects as opposed to...

This paper provides evidence for the mutually reinforcing relation of political and economic institutions. To overcome problems of endogeneity I utilize lag instruments within a GMM framework for dynamic panel data. Employing recently developed tests, I show that limiting the number of lag...

The 'Beyond GDP' approach considers GDP (Gross Domestic Product) insufficient to capture the multidimensional nature of progress and promotes the use of alternative indicators in policy. Although commonly used as an indicator of well-being, GDP is a measure of economic performance, reflecting...

In this paper we revisit the relationship between democracy, redistribution, and inequality. We first explain the theoretical reasons why democracy is expected to increase redistribution and reduce inequality, and why this expectation may fail to be realized when democracy is captured by the...

The paper identifies and analyzes the four main fault lines which will influence the next decades of global philanthropy. All are related to what we can refer to as "the market revolution in global philanthropy". As global philanthropy moves beyond grantmaking, into investment approaches that...

In this paper we revisit the relationship between democracy, redistribution and inequality. We first explain the theoretical reasons why democracy is expected to increase redistribution and reduce inequality, and why this expectation may fail to be realized when democracy is captured by the...

In this paper we revisit the relationship between institutions, human capital and development. We argue that empirical models that treat institutions and human capital as exogenous are misspecified both because of the usual omitted variable bias problems and because of differential measurement...

Does the size of the public sector affect economic growth? A large body of research has examined this question and documented inconclusive results. In this paper, I argue that the impact of a large public sector on economic performance turns negative in countries with a fragmented population....

Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson, and Yared (2008) document that the cross-country correlation between income per capita and democracy disappears once including country fixed effects. This paper tests the hypothesis that the effect of income on democracy might differ systematically across countries....