This paper examines the Chinese macroeconomic data revisions at the provincial level. Various characteristics of the data revisions are identified. Do provincial data revisions suggest systematic biases in the initial reports? Do these biases differ by macroeconomic variable? How do provincial...

There is no question that Vietnam has made significant progress in its march to revamp its system to respond to and participate actively in the global economy. It has done this by embracing market principles and freeing up its enormous potential to grow and compete. The U.S. government has...

This paper applies a behavioral economics model of cigarette addiction to the issue of oil usage and climate change. Both problems involve consumption of a product that causes long-term detrimental effects and for which current reductions in usage induces an adjustment cost. The paper argues...

This article examines how the WTO can encourage member states to prod multinationals to ensure that as they stimulate trade, they do not undermine internationally accepted norms for labor, human rights and the environment. The article shows how these issues are seeping into WTO deliberations and...

Health and income are strongly correlated both within and across countries, yet the extent to which improvements in income have a causal effect on health status remains controversial. We revisit this question with an investigation of short-term fluctuations in aggregate income and infant...

This paper compares the output gap estimates based on a number of different methods. We take advantage of the unique properties of the Mongolian economy in order to evaluate the different approaches. We find that an economic measure derived from a Blanchard and Quah-type joint model of output...

Head Start is a comprehensive, early childhood development program designed to augment the human capital and health capital levels of disadvantaged children. Evaluations of Head Start have tended to focus on cognitive outcomes; however, there is increasing recognition that other important...

The Foster, Greer, Thorbecke (1984) class nests several of the most widely used mea- sures in theoretical and empirical work on economic poverty. Use of this general class of measures, however, presupposes a dimension of well-being that, like income, is cardinally measurable. Responding to...

What is the impact of modern transportation technology on economic change in poor countries? Rail construction in colonial Africa provides a natu-ral experiment. Using new data on railroads and cities over one century within one country, Ghana, and Africa as a whole, we ï¬nd large permanent...

Little is known about the extent and forces of urban path dependence in developing countries. Railroad construction incolonialKenyaprovidesanaturalexperimenttostudytheemer- gence and persistence of this spatial equilibrium. Using new data...