I develop a model of exploitation--coercive wealth transfer--and growth based on social importance. Exploitation reduces growth since the return to capital falls with exploitation costs. Initial relative wealth across groups--the measure of social importance--determines which group is the...

This paper examines the influence of economic integration--widening of the trading area--on economic development and the demographic transition. Economies produce with different technologies depending on their scale. Greater integration between regions (greater extensive scale) is instrumental...

Nations close themselves voluntarily to varying degrees. Restrictions on the flow of ideas are difficult to understand, since open countries have higher relative incomes. This article provides an explanation based on the existence of two channels of public finance--traditional and...