This chapter is a first attempt to systematically characterize and describe the role of international actors in promoting anti-corruption policy in regulation and procurement. Drawing upon a variety of economic theories of corruption in these sectors, I analyze how international actors may play...

As regions around the world are considering increased integration of key energy, transport or other infrastructure networks, issues build in the design of the supranational national regulation needed in that context are increasingly well recognized. Solutions are however slow to emerge. This...

The distribution of land in Malawi is highly unequal and frequently inefficient. Large areas of land are underutilized in a context where many Malawian farmers would be able to put such land to productive use. In this context, the Malawian government has been slow and ineffective invundertaking...

This paper builds a dynamic model of utility regulation where a government cannot commit to a time-inconsistent policy of not expropriating investment.By allowing the government's type to change over time, I explore how reputation concerns may generate partial commitment. Restricting attention...

The efficient operation and expansion of infrastructures in developing countries is crucial for growth and poverty reduction. However, recent reforms aimed at improving the performance of these sectors have had limited success. Evidence suggests that, in many instances, this was because the...

Relational contracts are typically modeled as being between a principal and an agent, such as a firm owner and a supplier. Yet in a variety of organizations relationships are overseen by an intermediary such as a manager. Such arrangements open the door for collusion between the manager and the...

Those at risk from natural disasters are typically under-protected, possibly because they expect benefactors such as governments and donors to come to their aid. Yet when relief comes, it is often insufficient, delayed or misallocated. Benefactors may wish to commit to provide an efficient...

This paper investigates the interaction between corruption and governance at the sector level. A simple model illustrates how both an increase in regulatory autonomy and privatization may influence the effect of corruption. The interaction is analyzed empirically using a fixed-effects estimator...

This paper investigates the impact of individuals' school peers on their adult romantic relationships. In particular, we consider the effect of quasi-random variation in the share of black students within an individual's cohort on the percentage of adults' cohabiting partners that are black. We...

This paper investigates the impact of limited commitment on international electricity trade. We build a model where hold-up problems originating from incomplete contracts decrease countries' willingness to trade. In particular, an inability to commit to future trade reduces the specialization of...