Using data on 434 Brazilian municipalities, this paper estimates the effect of both corruption and the size of the informal sector on economic outcomes, while allowing for the possibility of spatial dependence. Overall, this paper finds that the size of the informal sector has a statistically...

Generalized morality reflects ethical norms in society about the inappropriateness of behaviors that can cause harm to others. Generalized morality may be an important factor affecting the economic performance of countries. An indicator of generalized morality is constructed from data from the...

This paper proposes an original formal framework to analyze institutional evolution. Institutions have formal (F) and informal (N) aspects that may evolve at different paces, although eventually converging towards each other through an dynamic interactive process. N evolves with capital...

While financial development and corruption control have been studied extensively, their interaction has not. We develop a simple model in which low corruption and financial development both facilitate the undertaking of productive projects, but act as substitutes in doing so. The...

The collapse of the communist system during the late 1980’s redefined the hierarchy among Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) and the former USSR. Some of these countries joined the EU ; some did not ; others formed the CIS . In particular, institutions, mainly market and political...

This paper examines recent attempts to rehabilitate pre-modern craft guilds as efficient economic institutions. Contrary to rehabilitation views, craft guilds adversely affected quality, skills, and innovation. Guild rent-seeking imposed deadweight losses on the economy and generated no...

This paper investigates the effects of institutionalized gender inequality, proxied by a women's rights index, on the female high-skilled migration rates relative to that of male (the female brain drain ratio). By developing a model of migration choice I find non-linear effects of gender...

In this paper we model the migration decisions of high-skilled women as a function of the benefits associated with moving from an origin with relatively low women´s rights to a destination with a relatively high women´s rights. However, the costs faced by women are decreasing in the level...

This paper investigates whether social cohesion makes economic reforms more likely. First, we investigated whether social cohesion is a coherent concept by using a principal-component factor (PCF) analysis covering 16 indicators used to measure social cohesion in the previous literature for 40...

This report presents the findings of a research conducted in Ethiopia by the „MSPs, Service Delivery and State Institutions‟ working group of the „Network for Peace, Security and Development‟.1 The research aimed at generating insight in:  the nature of cooperation between multiple...