National wealth can be divided into real capital, financial capital, human capital and natural resource wealth. We use the National Accounts measures to illustrate the development of the wealth from 1930 to 1995, with special focus on the contribution from the natural resources. Norway is often...

The aim of our study is to include all the information on male stature which has been estimated in previous research. 152 countries can be taken into account. Height estimates will be presented on a decadal basis. We study the development in each world regions. When the first era of...

Background: The trend in the BMI values of the US population has not been estimated accurately because time series data are unavailable and because the focus has been on calculating period effects. Object: To estimate the trend and rate of change of BMI values by birth cohorts stratified by...

This paper studies the concept of an international economic order, i.e. an institutional arrangement of international rules. Such rules emerge from negative experiences – historical disasters – that inflict severe hardship on people. A taxonomy for rules reducing transaction costs is...

This paper analyzes how international rules are established and stabilized, i.e. how an international institutional order develops. Rules emerge mainly through learning from negative experience and serve to reduce transaction costs. The paper looks at mechanisms that stabilize rule systems, at...

Little research exists on the historical relationship between BMI variation, wealth, and inequality. This study finds that 19th century US black and white BMIs were distributed symmetrically; neither wasting nor obesity was common. Nineteenth century BMI values were also greater for blacks than...

Little research exists on the body mass index values of late 19th and early 20th century African-Americans. Using a new BMI data set and robust statistics, this paper demonstrates that late 19th and early 20th century black BMI variation by age increased in their mid-30s but declined at older...

Using a new source of 19th century state prison records, this study contrasts the biological living conditions of comparable US African-American and white female statures during economic development. Black and white female statures varied regionally, and white Southeastern and black Southwestern...

Thomas Friedman's book the world is flat has been a bestseller since it appeared in 2005. The remarkable success of the book reflects to a certain extent the present fears with respect to increasing globalization. Using many examples, Friedman argues that distance (however defined) is no longer...

In den Sozialwissenschaften (Ökonomie, Soziologie, Politologie), die sich mit Funktionen und Effekten der Mitbestimmung befassen, wurde die Frage nach ihren positiven wirtschaftlichen Folgen erst in neuerer Zeit aufgeworfen. In der Vergangenheit standen deren friedensstiftenden und...