The paper explores the evolution of export diversification patterns along the economic development path. Using a large database with 156 countries over 19 years at the HS6 level of disaggregation (4’991 product lines) we look for action at the “intensive” and “extensive” margins...

This paper asks what low-income countries can expect from growth in terms of happiness. It interprets the set of available international evidence pertaining to the relationship between income growth and subjective well-being. Conforming to the Easterlin paradox, higher income always correlates...

Until recently, the application of computable general equilibrium (CGE) models to the evaluation of the effects of tourism and tourism policies on the economic and social situation in a country has been very limited by the paucity of data. Over the recent years, the development of tourism...

We use life satisfaction and Body Mass Index (BMI) information from three waves of the GSOEP to test for social interactions in BMI between spouses. Semi-parametric regressions show that partner’s BMI is, beyond a certain level, negatively correlated with own satisfaction. Own BMI is...

This paper seeks to gain insights on the relationship between growth and unemployment when considering heterogeneous agents in terms of skills. We allow for the possibility of training for unskilled employed workers and for the possibility of human capital depreciation for skilled unemployed...

The paper proposes a way to measure the mechanical and psychological effects of majority runoff versus plurality. Building on a series of laboratory experiments on presidential-type elections, we evaluate these effects with respect to the probability of election of a centrist candidate. In our...

This paper is an experimental study on the effect of group identity on the formation of coalitions and the resulting distribution of resources. After inducing group identity based on preferences over paintings, subjects play symmetric three-player _divide the dollar_ games with a majority rule...

European Enlightenment thinkers were right in stressing the political dimension of inequality, rather than referring to "natural differences" as some others did after them in the 19th or 20th centuries. Drawing from recent theoretical and empirical contributions in social sciences and in...

This paper reviews the evidence on the determinants of subsistence agriculture and the barriers that farmers face to switch to market-oriented agriculture. We review a number of recent empirical approaches to the estimation of variable, fixed, and sunk transaction costs, with the weight of the...