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Following on Keynes's Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren, this paper develops conjectures about the world we will leave to our grandchildren. It starts by outlining the 10 most important trends that have defined our economic, social, and political lives over the last 100 years. It then...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011227928
Afghanistan is a democracy; (2) whether the police should resolve disputes; (3) whether members of parliament provide services …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010821739
In this paper we revisit the relationship between democracy, redistribution and inequality. We first explain the … theoretical reasons why democracy is expected to increase redistribution and reduce inequality, and why this expectation may fail … to be realized when democracy is captured by the richer segments of the population; when it caters to the preferences of …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010723394
In this paper we revisit the relationship between institutions, human capital and development. We argue that empirical … models that treat institutions and human capital as exogenous are misspecified both because of the usual omitted variable … focus on historically-determined differences in human capital and control for the effect of institutions, the impact of …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011152527
Why do inefficient %uF818 non-growth enhancing %uF818 institutions emerge and persist? This paper develops a simple … framework to provide some answers to this question. Political institutions determine the allocation of political power, and … economic institutions determine the framework for policy-making and place constraints on various policies. Groups with …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005036822
causes democracy. Existing studies establish a strong cross-country correlation between income and democracy, but do not … country fixed effects removes the statistical association between income per capita and various measures of democracy. We also … democracy. Furthermore, we reconcile the positive cross-country correlation between income and democracy with the absence of a …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005089016
reversal is consistent with the role of institutions in economic development. The expansion of European overseas empires … starting in the 15th century led to a major change in the institutions of the societies they colonized. In fact, the European … likely to introduce institutions encouraging investment in regions that were previously poor. This institutional reversal …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005580433
also tends to erect significant entry barriers, violating the property rights of future producers. Democracy, where … taxes in democracy are high and the distortions caused by entry barriers are low, an oligarchic society achieves greater … new technologies, and how the unequal distribution of income in an oligarchic society supports the oligarchic institutions …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005778208
Is social capital long lasting? Does it affect long term economic performance? To answer these questions we test Putnam's conjecture that today marked differences in social capital between the North and South of Italy were due to the culture of independence fostered by the free city-states...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005778376
In this essay I review the new book by Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini, The Economic Effects of Constitutions, which investigates the policy and economic consequences of different forms of government and electoral rules. I also take advantage of this opportunity to discuss the advantages and...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005829826