A simple model is used to discuss the political economy of the emergence of relative poverty as a foundation for redistribution policy in rich countries, as opposed to the dominant concept of absolute poverty, which prevails in the rest of the world. This issue is analyzed in connection with...

The behavior of Bangladeshi trade unions is characterized by political activism and momentous strikes, called hartals there, have played a crucial part in most political changes in this country. We offer a theoretical framework for discussing this fact, and we test empirically its main...

A simple model of terrorism is presented where the current generation is linked to the next one by some altruism, as in standard dynastic family models. Bombing today some target increases the probability of the benefit of some public good accruing to the next generation. The model is used to...

The devaluation of the CFA Franc in 1994 generated a public investment boom in Senegal. The increase in public investment was made possible thanks to an improved budgetary situation related to the reduction in real terms of the public wage bill which had been too large for some time. The rise in...