Using a large dataset covering all trade in military equipment over the period 1950-2007, we address the relationship between differences in polity and arms trade from a novel empirical perspective. We provide evidence on the determinants of link formation at the bilateral level by estimating...

Data on the growth performances of countries with similar comparative (dis)advantage and political institutions reveal a striking variation across world regions. While some former autocracies such as the East Asian growth miracles have done remarkably well, others such as the Latin American...