Empirical evidence suggests that belonging to an empire favours trade by lowering transaction costs and establishing preferential trade agreements. Does the end of an empire invert this effect, and if so, through which channels? This paper uses an original dataset to explore the impact of...

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) the informal sector is a major engine for employment, entrepreneurship and growth. The high incidence of corruption is another distinctive feature of SSA. According to the last Transparency International Corruption Perception Index almost 70% of SSA countries ranked...

The consequences on international trade of country breaks-up have received an increasing attention. This paper investigates the effect of independence on bilateral trade of former French colonies with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Thanks to an original dataset including data on pre-independence...

This article analyzes individual perceptions of the linkage between corruption and trust in political institutions in 16 African democracies. Using perceived corruption and experienced corruption as indicators, it tests the functionalist theories that portray corruption as a way to increase...

Fiscal constraints and policy changes to improve effectiveness of programs in reducing poverty has progressively led the international community to use tools for reaching the poor. Targeting antipoverty interventions is one of them. This paper aims at providing a general review of experiences of...

The fact that crossing a political border dramatically reduces trade flows has been widely documented in the literature. The increasing number of borders has surprisingly attracted much less attention. The number of independent countries has indeed risen from 72 in 1948 to 192 today. This paper...

Using a gravity model of trade, this paper examines the consequences on inter- national trade of the quality and the similarity of domestic institutions. We find an asymme- tric impact on trade of institutions quality. Our estimations show that a country exports all the more since the quality of...

Competition is often presented as a good way to fight against corruption. However, no theoretical or empirical study allows us to conclude that an increase in competition reduces corruption. This article uses surveys of more than 10,000 firms in 80 countries to analyse the links between...

Do good institutions foster trade? Many trade agreements, and notably those of the European Union, introduce institutional provisions in addition to strictly free-trade measures. In this article, we are interested in the influence of democracy and the fight against corruption on trade. We use a...