The “transition happiness gap” has been one of the most robust findings in the life satisfaction literature. Until very recently, scholars using various datasets on life satisfaction have shown that residents of post-communist countries were significantly less satisfied with their lives than...

Can policymakers improve macroeconomic performance by encouraging the entry of high-performance startups? To answer this question, we construct a novel and comprehensive data set on 1.3 million startups in ten European countries. We apply cluster analysis to identify distinct startup types and...

This paper analyzes the accuracy of GDP growth forecasts prepared by the EBRD for 25 transition countries between 1994 and 2004. It finds that EBRD forecasts are mostly unbiased and efficient, and that forecast accuracy has improved as transition has progressed and as the range of data sources...

This paper evaluates the growth performance of more than 200 economies. It identifies instances of relatively strong economic performance after the 2008-09 global financial crisis, and asks if determinants of sustained strong (and weak) performance have changed in recent years. It finds that...

Emerging economies have an increasing influence on the global economy and there is general optimism regarding their prospects. However, given a sustained income gap between emerging and advanced economies, there is concern that many emerging economies will never match the advanced economies in...

This paper aims to identify the reasons why economic growth in Egypt, although comparable to its peers, failed to significantly reduce unemployment, lower poverty levels or raise overall productivity. We use cross-country comparisons, counterfactual scenarios and regression analysis to...

This paper looks at the link between the quality of economic institutions and innovation, and innovation and growth. We construct a measure of the innovation content of individual manufacturing industries and show that countries with stronger economic institutions specialise in more...

Non-performing loans (NPLs) are a burden for both lender and borrower; they contract credit supply, distort allocation of credit, worsen market confidence and slow economic growth. So what is the best way to deal with them? This paper compares three different scenarios: actively reducing NPLs,...

In this paper we provide an outline for viewing the middle-income trap through the lens of the Schumpeterian growth paradigm, which places the notion of creative destruction at the centre of economic growth. Economic growth and development come from structural transformation, which is the...

This paper investigates the link between banking system expansion and economic growth. Contrary to evidence from the United States, several recent microeconomic studies from developing country settings do not find enduring effects of banking that carry over to the medium or long term. The paper...