In this paper we investigate the relationship between informal institutions – proxied for by measures of religiosity – and the gap between male and female incomes in the U.S. states, using Pew U.S. Religious Landscape Survey data, and Census Bureau estimates of male and female median...

In an emerging literature, informal institutions or culture has been defined based on four important traits - TRUST, RESPECT, CONTROL and OBEDIENCE. This paper investigates the question - do informal institutions defined by these traits enhance women's political, social and economic rights? The...

Domestic human capital is definitely a determinant of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows for the developing world. Yet, the contribution of human capital will depend to a great extent on the institutional framework of a nation. Good political (civil) rights favor human capital to reap the...

The paper revisits the relationship between capital flight and financial development. Previous research has focused on a linear relationship between the two variables. Using a broad panel of 107 middle income and low income economies, the results reveal that a non-linear association exists...

This paper explores the role of media in mitigating the adverse effects of ethnic diversity on economic policies using a pooled OLS approach. A freer media helps build a strong public consensus, generates public awareness, creates a transparent government and, thus, fosters development....

How does foreign aid affect recipient countries’ political institutions? Two competing hypotheses offer contradictory predictions. The first sees aid, when delivered correctly, as an important means of making dictatorial recipient countries more democratic. The second sees aid as a corrosive...

India experienced one of the strictest lockdowns during COVID-19 and sections of the workforce seemed overwhelmingly disadvantaged. Given substantial poverty still, marginalized daily wage labor and gendered outcomes in the context of India, economic shocks are expected to have disparate...

The ambiguity in the relationship between self-employment and educational attainment is well documented in the literature. Using an extensive individual level dataset from Periodic Labor Force Survey, we estimate the probability of being self-employed in India based on educational attainments....

Using cross country data, we explore the role of linguistic structures for the financial development of countries. Specially, we investigate if future time reference (FTR), the requirement of an obligatory future tense marking in languages, matters for financial development or not. Our results...