Essays on entry regulation, institutions, and development
This thesis is a collection of three essays on entry regulation, institutions, and development.Chapter 1 examines the effect of a business registration reform in Mexico on economic activity. This reform made registration procedures less complex and was implemented in different municipalities at different points in time, allowing for identification. I find that the reform increased the number of registered businesses in eligible industries. This increase was due to former wage earners opening businesses. Former unregistered business owners were not more likely to register their business after the reform. The results also show an increase in employment in eligible industries. Moreover, they indicate that the competition from new entrants lowered prices and decreased the income of incumbent businesses. Chapter 2, coauthored with Francisco Gallego, argues that within country variation in economic development across the Americas can be explained by differences in institutions that have their roots in the colonial era. Colonizers engaged in different economic activities in different regions of a country, depending on the local conditions and the supply of native labor. Some activities where "bad" since they created extractive institutions, while "good" activities created inclusive institutions. We show that areas with bad colonial activities have lower GDP per capita today than other areas. Areas with high pre-colonial population density also have lower GDP per capita today. The intermediating factor between history and current development appears to be institutions and not income inequality or the share of ethnic minorities.
Year of publication: |
2007
|
---|---|
Authors: | Bruhn, Miriam |
Other Persons: | Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee. (contributor) |
Institutions: | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics. (contributor) |
Publisher: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Saved in:
freely available
Saved in favorites
Similar items by person
-
Essays in development economics and finance
Ramalho, Rita Maria, (2003)
-
Essays on development economics
Ruthbah, Ummul Hasanath, (2007)
-
Fischer, Gregory M., (2008)
- More ...