After a brief overview of the types of evidence on the role of distance in affecting migration, the paper critically examines a number of hypotheses as to why distance might deter migration, then draws out some implications for the emergence and persistence of geographic poverty traps.

Fluctuations in the terms of trade-the price of a country's exports relative to the price of its imports-are a source of perennial to policymakers in developing countries and industrialized nations alike. Terms of trade growth is extremely volatile and can lead to sudden changes in a country's...

We examine the effect of language acquisition on the growth of immigrants’ earnings. We gathered data on recent Soviet immigrants to Israel that include retrospective questions on earnings and language ability on entry into their current job. Language acquisition is found to interact...

The banking systems of some countries export intermediation services to the rest of the world, while many other countries are net exporters of deposits to banks abroad and net importers of loans from banks abroad. Banking center countries typically have lower inflation, deeper financial ncial...