We consider abstract social systems of private property, made of n individuals endowed with non-paternalistic interdependent preferences, who interact through exchanges on competitive markets and Pareto-efficient lumpsum transfers. The transfers follow from a distributive liberal social contract...

This paper provides the text of the Gunnar Myrdal Lecture presented at the U.N. Palais des Nations in 2004. The lecture addresses the present economic and political conditions in an integrated Europe and the challenges ahead, particularly how the expansion of the European Union will require...

We investigate how Reconstruction affected Black political participation and socio-economic advancement after the American Civil War. We use the location of federal troops and Freedmen's Bureau offices to indicate more intensive federal enforcement of civil rights. We find greater political...

Public finance is a vital area of study that helps governments make informed decisions about how to raise and allocate funds to finance their activities, ultimately contributing to the well-being of society. Oil-rich developing and emerging economies present a distinct set of public finance...

This contribution examines the role of market-capitalism in anti-American terrorism. It differentiates between level- and rate-of-change-effects associated with market-capitalist development and their respective relationship with anti-U.S. violence. While this contribution argues that higher...

This contribution examines the role of market-capitalism in anti-American terrorism. It differentiates between level- and rate-of-change-effects associated with market-capitalist development and their respective relationship with anti-U.S. violence. While this contribution argues that higher...

Does culture have a causal effect on economic development? The data on European regions suggest that it does. Culture is measured by indicators of individual values and beliefs, such as trust and respect for others, and confidence in individual self-determination. To isolate the exogenous...

We examine the empirical relationship between the institutions of economic freedom and labor shares in a panel up to 93 countries covering 1970 through 2009. We find that a standard deviation increase in the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) score is associated about 1/3...

I construct a two-country multisectoral model of capital accumulation, endogenous technological change, trade, and foreign direct investment, whose steady states explain the main features of globalization: (a) increased economic participation of transnational corporation (TNC) profits, (b)...