We generalize endogenous growth models, which often assume a closed-economy, toallow for international borrowing and lending. We incorporate a prominent feature of globalfinancial markets, that the marginal cost of borrowing facing a small open economy is dependent on the country risk as...

This paper focuses on smallholder maize production in Malawi by investigating the linkbetween productivity and soil fertility management. Many studies conducted in Malawi indicate declining levels of maize productivity thereby posing food security concerns, since maize is the staple crop for...

Although the phenomenon of refugee flows is not devoid of economic connotations, it has so far been investigated primarily by political scientists and sociologists. The analytical tools of economic inquiry have not yet been applied to this subject, although it stands to reason that such a study...

This paper calls attention to the instrumental role of democracy and press freedom in combating corruption. As opposed to an autocracy with no or limited press freedom, a free press in a democracy can inform voters about the corruption of political representatives, and voters in turn can punish...

In view of development policy, capital formation is crucial for economic growth in a country. Since the reform in 1978, China has enjoyed high saving rates. However, in the late 1990s the saving rates rose to such a high level, therefore the economic policy to promote consumption in order to...