Using novel measures of technology diffusion and adoption developed by Comin and Hobijn (2012), we examine the role of finance in the timing of adoption and the diffusion of thirteen sectoral technologies in 44 Sub-Saharan Africa countries. These technologies cover sectors such as agriculture,...

This paper investigates the causes and consequences of colonial Africa’s first financial crash, which happened in South Africa’s Dutch Cape Colony. The 1788–1793 crisis followed a common sequence of events: trade and fiscal deficits were monetized by printing money, credit...

This study examines the relationship between property rights, defined by land tenure security and the strength of local-level institutions, and household demand for fuel wood, as measured by the source from which fuel wood is collected. A multinomial regression model is applied to survey data...

This paper starts from the now widely-held premise that biodiversity conservation ought to take place both inside and outside protected areas if biodiversity targets are to be met. Given the potential inter-linkages of areas inside and outside protected areas in ecosystems, the ultimate...

The study investigates the role of mineral resources in economic development and sees how the extractive sector impacts the overall performance of the economy of a country endowed with a diverse minerals and metals. We analyzed the economic growth model using human capital, population growth,...

This paper analyzes the eect of the average level of intelligence on different measures of the quality of institutions, using a 2006 cross-sectional sample of 113 countries. The results show that average IQ positively affects all the measures of institutional quality considered in our study,...