The dissertation includes four studies broadly connected to the causes and consequences of the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-8 from a political economy perspective. Following the intro-duction, Chapter 2 analyzes the political roots of massive foreign reserves accumulation, which has...

It is largely undisputed within the social sciences that genes, which influence human motivation and behavior must have been subject to the forces of natural selection in the same manner as genes, which determine physical traits and characteristics. In contrast, much less agreement has been...

This dissertation investigates capital market frictions across three themes. The first theme is sovereign debt. Recent experience in the EU shows that it can be complex to enforce the repayment promises of states. Furthermore, governments are better informed about their repayment capacity than...