Following Fukuyama's (2001) postulation for future research in economic development, this paper examines the cultural hypothesis regarding national economic prosperity. Culture is found to affect economic performance through two channels; cultural traits that stimulate individual motivation, and...

We apply a panel of 331 microfinance institutions from 37 countries to investigate the relationship between social beliefs and microfinance financial performance. We find that microfinance institutions in countries with higher levels of trust and more collectivist culture have lower operating...

The present paper studies causes of the social and economic marginalisation, in particular, the role of social mobility barriers for Roma. We have identified two types of social mobility barriers for Roma: the cost of exit from the traditional Roma community and the cost of entry into the...

The present paper studies causes of the social and economic marginalisation, in particular, the role of social mobility barriers for Roma. We have identified two types of social mobility barriers for Roma: the cost of exit from the traditional Roma community and the cost of entry into the...

We explore the effect of historical ethnic borders on contemporary conflict in Africa. We document that the intensive and extensive margins of contemporary conflict are higher close to historical ethnic borders. Exploiting variations across artificial regions within an ethnicity's historical...

We present and test empirically a new theory of property and contract rights. Any incentive an autocrat has to respect such rights comes from his interest in future tax collections and national income and increases with his planning horizon. We find a compelling empirical relationship between...

This paper presents new evidence on how demography affects democratic attitudes in Western democracies. Using individual survey responses, the empirical analysis disentangles age from cohort patterns and other contemporaneous economic and political influences that shape democratic attitudes. The...

We study the role of proximity to historical ethnic borders in determining individual land ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa. Following an instrumental variable strategy, we document that individuals have a lower likelihood of owning land near historical ethnic borders. In particular, the...

We study the role of proximity to historical ethnic borders in determining individual land ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa. Following an instrumental variable strategy, we document that individuals have a lower likelihood of owning land near historical ethnic borders. In particular, the...

This paper presents new evidence on how demography affects democratic attitudes in Western democracies. Using individual survey responses, the empirical analysis disentangles age from cohort patterns and other contemporaneous economic and political influences that shape democratic attitudes. The...