We investigate the macroeconomic effects of government spending shocks in Korea. We compare results obtained with two alternative approaches: the narrative approach and Structural Vector-Autoregressive model (SVAR). We propose a new methodology for identifying exogenous and unexpected fiscal...

In the context of strikingly low literacy rates among Indian women and low caste popultaion, the paper explores whether and how far the interests of the marginalised poor are undermined by the dominant elite consisting mainly of the landed and the capitalists. We distinguish the dominant elite...

Inter- and intra-state disparities in levels of literacy rates in India are striking, especially for the marginalized groups of women and low caste population. The present paper offers an explanation of this disparate development in terms of elite dominance that discriminates against the...

We study the relationship between ethnic diversity and economic performance and, in particular, focus on economic growth under democracy and dictatorship. We build a theory which emphasizes the public spending channel, and show that the relationship between public spending and ethnic diversity...

In this paper, we study the effects of bureaucratic corruption on fiscal policy and the subsequent impact on economic growth. Here corruption takes three forms: (i) it reduces the tax revenue raised from households, (ii) it inflates the volume of government spending, and (iii) it reduces the...

Recent Eurobarometer survey data are used to document and explain the stock of social capital in 28 European countries. Social capital in Central and Eastern Europe – measured by civic participation and access to social networks – lags behind that in Western European countries. Using...

Extensive multilingualism is one of the most important and fundamental principles of the European Union. However, a large number of official languages (currently 23) hinders communication and imposes substantial financial and legal costs. We address the merits of multilingualism and formulate an...

We argue that econometric analyses based on transition countries’ data can be vulnerable to structural breaks across time and/or countries. We demonstrate this argument by identifying structural breaks in growth regressions estimated with data for 25 countries and 16 years. Our method allows...

Cultural factors and especially common languages are well-known determinants of trade. By contrast, the knowledge of foreign languages was not explored in the literature so far. We combine traditional gravity models with data on fluency in the main languages used in EU and candidate countries....

We argue that econometric analyses of growth in post-communist countries are vulnerable to structural breaks across time and/or countries. We demonstrate this by identifying structural breaks in growth for 25 countries and over 18 years. The method we use allows identification of structural...