What is the relationship between social welfare, safety nets and economic freedom? Arguably, if economic freedom (EF) promotes growth and if it trickles down EF promotes larger freedoms (e.g. a healthy and productive life, free from want and deprivation). However, higher EF by definition entails...

We study the connection between economic performance and the quality of government institutions for the sample of 103 Italian NUTS3 regions, including new measures of institutional quality calculated using data on the provision of four areas of public service: health, educational...

This paper shows how colonial powers permanently shaped the pattern of Chinese cities through the establishment of Concessions - foreign enclaves within Chinese cities. Based on a sample of 130 city districts within 10 Chinese cities, we find that districts with Concessions have higher land...

This paper aims to collaborate with the discussion about the factors that try to explain the economic behavior in Latin America countries, considering the importance of some attributes related to social capital (ie interpersonal trust, which leads to association and civic commitment, performing...

This paper identifies view points of the Palestinian telecommunications sector's stakeholders with regard to regulatory independence and analyzes reasons behind the rejection of the 2009 Telecommunications Law that establishes an independent telecommunications regulatory authority. It sheds a...

This paper investigates Palestine's institutional foundations in order to decide on the most appropriate telecommunications regulatory system. It is based on the work of Levy and Spiller's institutional endowment framework. Comments and adjustments to the framework are also discussed and...

This paper discusses regulatory design in unstable states. It focuses on the regulatory attributes of the regulatory authority. The paper analyzes three unstable states (Kosovo, Lebanon and Palestine) and offers a set of policy recommendations for additional and essential safeguards that shall...

In the process of transition of Central and East European countries (CEEC) to a market economy the critical importance of multinational corporations is growing in view of the fact that the former socialist economies have to reintegrate into the global economy and that multinational firms are the...

We exploit a recent change in voting procedures in one of the two chambers of the Swiss parliament to explore how transparency affects the votes of Members of Parliament (MPs). Until 2013, the Council of States (St nderat) decided by hand rising. While publicly observable at the time of the...