Using micro data on women in the Czech Republic, we compare returns to various measures of human capital at the end of communism (1989), in mid-transition (1996) and in late/post-transition (2002). We show: dramatic increases in returns to education from 1989 to 1996 but no change from 1996 to 2002;...

This research develops an evolutionary growth theory that captures the interplay between the evolution of mankind and economic growth since the emergence of the human species. This unified theory encompasses the observed evolution of population, technology and income per capita in the long...

This paper analyses the interaction between the distribution of human capital, technological progress, and economic growth. It demonstrates the significant role of the distribution of human capital in the process of economic development. The evolutionary pattern of the human capital...

This paper examines how economic stratification affects inequality and growth over time. It studies economies where heterogenous agents interact through local public goods or externalities (school funding, neighbourhood effects) and economy-wide linkages (complementary skills, knowledge...

Economists have long viewed recessions as contributing to increasing inequality. This conclusion is largely based on data from a period in which inequality was increasing over time, however. This Paper examines the connection between long-run trends and cyclical variation in earnings inequality....

This paper presents a unified theory that provides an intertemporal reconciliation between conflicting viewpoints about the effect of inequality on economic growth. It argues that the replacement of physical capital accumulation by human capital accumulation as a prime engine of economic growth...

This document describes the construction of series on the educational attainment of the adult population in a sample of 21 OECD countries for the period 1960-95. These series are a revised version of the data set described in de la Fuente and Doménech (2000).

How valuable are the skills acquired under socialism in a market economy? This Paper throws light on this question using unique data covering the years before and during transition (1986-98) for about 3 million Hungarian wage earners. We find that returns to a year of schooling increased by 75%...

This Paper develops a theory of fertility and child educational choice that offers an explanation for the persistence of poverty within and across countries. The joint determination of the quality (education) and quantity of children in the household is studied under the key assumption that...

Differences in optimal firm size may only be explained by heterogeneity amongst enterprises and the markets in which they operate. Therefore, the concept of the rep-resentative enterprise from the traditional theory of the firm is not helpful in explaining size differences. Differences in firm...