Using three market examples: opium, grapes, and timber; this paper illustrates mismanagement of Afghan economic affairs. These examples show an adverse effect of Western influence since the 9/11 invasion. Economic policy in Afghanistan is based on the history of capitalism, not the principles of...

The developed theoretical model analyzes the welfare effects of labor migration. I find that for the receiving country immigration enhances welfare as long as the marginal benefits to the natives' income exceed the social costs of immigration. Over-emigration of workers generated by free...

In recent years, U.S. government entities have become increasingly active as commercial participants in corporate restructurings by providing rescue loans when private market funding is unavailable. Like private lenders, the government can effectively control the operations of distressed...

The present work deals with the fiscal decentralization reforms in developing countries. Empirical evidence demonstrates that deficiencies in the decentralization process, particularly on revenue composition issues, are many even today and of difficult solution for developing countries. Our...

We examine the net benefits of social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the United States. Social distancing saves lives but imposes large costs on society due to reduced economic activity. We use epidemiological and economic forecasting to perform a rapid benefit-cost analysis of...

If permanent output is uncertain, tax smoothing can be perilous: both debt levels and tax rates are difficult to stabilize and may drift upwards. One practical remedy would be to target the debt. However, our simulations confirm that such a policy would require undesirably volatile fiscal...

Fiscal rules - legal restrictions on government borrowing, spending, or debt accumulation (like the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act in the United States) - have recently been adopted or considered in several countries, both industrial and developing. Previous literature stresses that such laws...

This paper reviews literature as well as explores analytical findings on the theory of national competitive advantage to define the trend and pattern of international trade from an emerging market perspective. For this purpose, RMG sector of Bangladesh is taken as an example industry, as its...

I study the history and performance of commercial real estate (CRE) in the pension fund portfolio, showing how many plan sponsors fundamentally changed their approach to CRE investment once underfunding gaps began to emerge in the early and middle 2000s. Several new empirical facts are...