We consider the purpose and design of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its predecessor, GATT. We review recent …

Since a key function of competitive elections is to allow voters to express their policy preferences, one might take it …, election years are associated with larger changes in expenditure composition while new democracies, which were found by Brender … and Drazen (2005) to raise their overall level of expenditures in election years, tend not to have such changes …

levels of democracy. In developed countries, especially old democracies, election-year deficits actually reduce the … countries and in new democracies, but voters are affected by growth over the leader's term in office rather than in the election …

We examine patterns of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) around national elections in 23 countries. Uncertainty shows a … clear tendency to rise in the months leading up to elections. Average EPU values are 13% higher in the month of and the … month prior to an election than in other months of the same national election cycle, conditional on country effects, time …

In most national elections, voters face a key choice between continuity and change. Electoral turnovers occur when the … universe of presidential and parliamentary elections held since 1945. We document the prevalence of turnovers over time and we … estimate their effects on economic performance, trade, human development, conflict, and democracy. Using a close-elections …