This paper looks at some of the most important economic and social indicators during the 10 years of the Chávez administration in Venezuela, as well as the current economic expansion. It also looks at the current situation and challenges.

This paper carries out an assessment of the influence that different kinds of social ties exert on labour precariousness, on the state of health of urban environments and on the economic performance in Italy. Overall, the empirical evidence shows that weak ties connecting members of voluntary...

Vengono presentati I principali meccanismi di incentivazione in Italia ed in alcuni paesi europei, in termini sia di descrizione delle iniziative che di analisi del loro impatto in termini di investimenti complessivi e di nuova occupazione. Per I singoli strumenti proposti vengono presentati...

In this paper we examine the productivity of indigenous soil and water conservation investments in the Boukombe region in Northwest Benin, using an in-depth survey among 101 farmers on farm inputs, outputs, and SWC investments. We show that positive effects of SWC investments are only observed...

Recent literature contains many stories of how foreign aid affects economic growth. All the stories hinge on the statistical significance in cross-country regressions of a quadratic term involving aid. Among the stories are that aid raises growth (on average) 1) in countries where economic...

The author of this note takes it as self evident that prosperity and the provision of "things" (buildings, roads, furniture, furnishings, clothes, machines and equipment of all sorts) go together. The way people generally speak and act is in line with this view. If this is so, domestic...

The econometric analysis of economic growth has always been subject to major flaws and shortcomings. Data scarcity and reliability, parameter heterogeneity, omitted variables bias, endogeneity problems, ... have seriously tainted estimation results. In this paper we propose an alternative...

Questo lavoro intende affrontare la questione degli assetti istituzionali e delle modalità organizzative dell’intervento dello Stato a favore dello sviluppo territoriale. Il tema è di crescente interesse in considerazione del moltiplicarsi dei livelli di governo (sovranazionale, nazionale,...

Bangladesh has experienced rapid fertility decline and reductions in under-five mortality over the last three decades. This impact study unravels the various factors behind these changes. Economic growth has been important, but so have major public sector interventions, notably reproductive...

This paper seeks to dispel some of the myths commonly harboured about service jobs, service trade and the contribution services make to productivity improvements and living standards. Services account for more than three-quarters of national output and for four out of every five jobs.