The new individual farmers face the necessity to decide on how much of their assets should be allocated to the individual farm, i.e. what should be the size and scale of operation. Starting from the Jovanovic's (1982) learning model we develop a theory an implication of which is that individual...

In this paper we investigate to what extent firm investment in transition countries is sensitive to internal finance. We use accounts data of over 4000 companies in four countries at different stages of transition. We find that firms in Bulgaria and Romania are less sensitive to internal...

A conceptual framework for analyzing the credit rationing and the link between credit access and profitability is developed. The empirical analysis using data from manufacturing firms in Bulgaria, provides direct estimates of credit rationing and its impact on profitability in transition...

This study integrates theoretical and empirical models to facilitate understanding of human obesity and the factors contributing to rising obesity in Russia during the transition from a planned to a market economy. Recent individual level data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for...

This paper studies the political economy of relief aid allocation using empirical evidence from relief programs after a major cyclone (Gafilo) hit Madagascar in March 2004. Relief was provided by the Government of Madagascar as well as local and international aid agencies. Aid allocation was...

This paper analyses the distributional effects of decoupled Single Farm Payments (SFP) in the European Union. In a static world the SFP benefit only farmers, irrespective of the implemented SFP model and irrespective of whether entitlements are tradable or not, except when the size of the...

An emerging literature on standards, global supply chains, and development argues that enhanced quality and safety standards are major trade barriers for developing country exports and cause the marginalization of small businesses and poor households in developing countries. This paper is the...

Local capture of public expenditures is an important problem for service delivery and poverty reduction in developing countries. Standard anticorruption institutions may not be effective, as these tend often to be corrupt themselves. This paper analyses the impact of monitoring and information...

There is no consensus about how globalization -trade and foreign investments ?affects poverty reduction. Using household survey data, this study contributes to the empirical literature on globalization and poverty by analyzing the household-level implications of increased foreign investments and...

Consumers have increasing demands for product standards. This has important implications for development. This paper develops a formal theory of the process of the introduction of high product standards in developing countries. The model endogenizes the introduction of high standards. Initial...