This paper studies how cross-country differences in labor market institutions shape the pattern of international trade, focusing on workers' skill acquisition. I develop a model in which workers undertake non-contractible activities to acquire firm-specific skills on the job. In the model,...

Previous work on social interactions analyzed the effects of nuclear family, peer, school, and neighborhood characteristics. This is the first paper showing that, independent of unobserved parent's characteristics, higher years of grandparents' schooling increase college attendance rates for...

We investigate jointly the importance of contemporary country-level institutional structures and local ethnicity-specific pre-colonial institutions in shaping comparative regional development in Africa. We utilize information on the spatial distribution of African ethnicities before colonization...

Recent innovations in digital learning and web-based technologies have enable scalability in educational services that has previously not been feasible presenting a potential disruption of traditional higher education markets. This paper explores the impact of these innovations in vertically...

Information provision is a key element of government energy-efficiency policy, but the information that is provided is often too coarse to allow consumers to make efficient decisions. An important example is the ubiquitous yellow "Energy Guide" label, which is required by law to be displayed on...

This paper considers how tax reductions financed by a carbon tax could be designed to mitigate the need for specific relief for firms in select energy- intensive, trade-exposed (EITE) sectors at the six-digit North American Industry Classification System level. Providing an output-based tax...

Energy security is the ability of households, businesses, and government to accommodate disruptions in supply in energy markets. This survey considers the economic dimensions of energy security, political and other non-economic security concerns and discusses policy approaches that could enhance...

The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment of the current socioeconomic conditions in Myanmar's Rahkine State and to evaluate the prospects of accelerating economic development as a way of reducing tensions between Muslim and Buddhist groups. There has been significant conflict in...

Despite the encouraging developments of the past two years, Myanmar faces an uncertain future fraught with very difficult political, economic and challenges. This paper examines where Myanmar has been, where it is, and what kinds of changes are needed to create conditions for unity, peace and...

Electricity is a fundamental input to every modern economy. Electricity consumption per capita in Myanmar is among the lowest in Asia and had been growing very slowly since the 1980's. It gently grew from 45kWh per capita in 1987 to 99 kWh in 2008, a 3.8 percent annual growth rate. However,...