In this paper we show that parking behavior of United Nations diplomats in New York City is strongly and consistently explained by the government effectiveness index of their respective countries. Government effectiveness index measures the quality of civil services, quality and quantity of...

The net impact of development interventions can depend on the availability of close substitutes to the intervention. We analyze a randomized trial of an innovative anti-poverty program in South India which provides “ultra-poor” households with inputs to create a new, sustainable livelihood....

As of early 2011, the microfinance industry in India, one of the largest in the world, is facing a moment of reckoning. The recent developments in Andhra Pradesh, the cradle of microfinance in India, have stamped the future of the sector with a huge question mark. This paper sketches the...