Nigeria returned to a democratic government in 1999. Evidence in the literature shows that democracy promotes economic development. In the recent past, the democratic trajectory of Nigeria has led to empirical debates about the democratization process of the developing states in particular,...

This paper examines the extent to which the quality of institutions, measured by the Economic Freedom of the World index, helps shape cross-country differences in economic complexity. To this end, I employ the intensity of ultraviolet radiation (UV-R) to isolate an exogenous source of variation...

It is well established in the long-term development literature that deeply rooted institutions are the fundamental drivers of comparative prosperity across the world. This study contributes to this line of inquiry by investigating the extent to which the quality of institutions helps shape...

It is well established in the long-term development literature that deeply rooted institutions are the fundamental drivers of comparative prosperity across the world. This study contributes to this line of inquiry by investigating the extent to which the quality of institutions helps shape...

Many studies have examined corruption’s effect upon economic growth. This study takes a different approach and investigates whether anticorruption campaigns might also lower economic growth, at least in the short run. We focus upon the anticorruption campaigns run by the Communist Party of...

Empirical results through a fixed effects regression model show that government size has a negative effect on growth mainly through hampering capital accumulation. When a sample is divided into OECD and non-OECD countries, the negative effect of government size on capital accumulation persists...

Empirical results from a random-effects regression model show that ethnic heterogeneity has a negative effect on growth. The negative effect is seen largely in the hampering of efficiency improvements, but not capital accumulation.

Ethnic heterogeneity influences economic growth through various channels such as efficiency improvement, capital accumulation, and technological progress. However, it is open to discussion exactly how ethnic heterogeneity affects these channels. Hence, this paper attempts to examine the effects...

We examine the long-term links between state capacity and economic performance. Our database is novel and spans 11 countries and 4 centuries in Europe, the birthplace of modern economic growth. A dynamic simultaneous equation panel model indicates that the performance effects of states with...

We present new evidence about the long-term links between state capacity and economic performance. Our database is novel and spans 11 countries and 4 centuries in Europe, the birthplace of modern economic growth. A dynamic simultaneous equation panel model indicates that the performance effects...