It is often argued that a saticfactory institutional quality is prerequi- site for successfull financial integration. This paper analyzes the influence of financial integration on institutional quality. We construct a dynamic politico-economic model in which the ruling elite uses its political...

In 2001-02, Argentina experienced a wrenching economic crisis. Plan Jefes, implemented in May 2002, was Argentinas institutional response to the increase in unemployment and poverty triggered by the crisis. The program provided a social safety net and appears to have successfully protected some...

Focusing on intra-household allocation, we investigate the effects of coffee market liberalisation in Uganda. As coffee has traditionally been a male domain, higher income from this activity might increase gender disparities. In addition, gender-related inefficiency in household production might...

Human trafficking is a humanitarian problem of global scale, but quantitative research on the issue barely exists. This paper is a first attempt to explore the economic drivers of human trafficking and migrant exploitation using micro data. We argue that migration pressure combined with informal...

Indonesia is, what the World Development Report 2008 calls, a transforming country characterized by increasing rural-urban income disparities and high poverty rates. Bearing these facts in mind, it is striking how little is known about causes and mechanism of the underlying determinants of...

This paper assesses the impact of risks and shocks on household welfare in the Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands in Nigeria. We use estimated income loss in consumption equations to assess the impact. Our findings identify death of an adult member, drought, and social conflict as important shocks in the...

This paper is based on first-hand experience from Customs reforms in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and presents unpublished data on the impact of Customs reforms on revenues, trade facilitation, private sector operators and frontline Customs officials behaviors in Africa. Customs agencies are usually...

We examine the effects of trade liberalization on child work and schooling in Indonesia. Our estimation strategy identifies geographical differences in the effects of trade policy through district and province level exposure to reduction in import tariff barriers. We use seven rounds (1993 to...

This paper investigates the impact of land inequality on conflict intensity. A fundamental distinction with the existing literature lies in the nature of inequality under consideration. We investigate how land inequality across landlords only influences the intensity of the fight against a rebel...

This paper quantifies the distributional and poverty effects of national and external trade reform in Brazil using household survey data. We estimate the consumption and labor impact of the Mercosur trade reform following the methodology suggested by Porto (2006). In order to analyze the impact...