We assemble a dataset on technology adoption in 1000 B.C., 0 A.D., and 1500 A.D. for the predecessors of today's nation states. We find that this very old history of technology adoption is surprisingly significant for today's national development outcomes. Although our strongest results are for...

We build upon recent literature to do several exercises to assess benefits and costs of the brain drain to Africa. Contrary to a lot of the worries expressed in the media and in aid agencies, the brain drain is probably a net benefit to the source countries. We make several arguments: (1) the...

This paper is about cronyism, or the arrangements by which influential firms receive economic favors. This phenomenon has been documented in numerous case studies, but rarely formalized or analyzed quantitatively. We offer a formal voting model in which cronyism is modeled as a contract where...

In present-day political and policy discussions in Washington, widespread concern is shared over the large and growing U.S.-China trade deficit. In the Senate, this concern was manifested in the proposed Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2007, which was introduced in June 2007, and...

It is widely believed that cost-sharing - charging a subsidized, positive price - for a health product is necessary to avoid wasting resources on those who will not use or do not need the product. We explore this argument in the context of a field experiment in Kenya, in which we randomized the...

For countries to engage successfully in the international trading system, their industries, firms, and workers must respond continually to new conditions of competition. The continuing need to adjust arises both from policy changes approved in multilateral negotiations - e.g., implementation of...

Following years of economic stagnation, Nigeria embarked on a comprehensive reform program during the second term of the Obasanjo administration. The program was based on the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and focused on four main areas: improving the...

This paper does not address the issue of aid effectiveness - that is, the extent to which aid dollars actually achieve their goals - but instead focuses on best practices in the way in which official aid is given, an important component of wider debate. First, we discuss best practice for an...

The record of the aid agencies over time seems to indicate weak evidence of progress over time in response to learning from experience, new knowledge, or changes in political climate. The few positive results are an increased sensitivity to per capita income of the recipient (although it...

From the vantage point of 2008, some of the most memorable initiatives of U.S. international economic leadership - the Paris and Louvre Accords, the support for Poland and Russia after the fall of communism, the Uruguay Round, and the Mexican Financing Loan - seem like quaint reminders of a...