During 1995-2007, China enacted reforms fostering competition including acceding to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and encouraging entry of non-state firms. While there is evidence that firms reduced markups, there is competing evidence that incumbent firms gained rents. We estimate the...

Influential studies that generally cover a few years find that environmental hazards reduce property values and welfare. Over decades, however, hazards may further harm neighborhoods by discouraging investment. This paper exploits the quasi-random assignment of oil and gas wells that were and...

This paper examines the effect of banking on economic growth in modern Russia. To overcome simultaneity and selection, we exploit regional banking variation induced by the creation of "specialized banks" (spetsbanks) in the last years of the Soviet Union (1988-1991). Consistent with the...