This paper posits that the sequencing of topics in introductory economics texts plays a subtle, but potentially key, role in influencing the effective delivery of principles courses. The key criterion for effectiveness is the attainment of economic literacy. The effective role of sequencing is...

In this paper we estimate the causal relationship between schooling and non- cognitive skills in later life. We exploit two exogenous changes in education policy in China and Indonesia and estimate the effect of schooling on non-cognitive skills as measured by the Locus of Control and...

Using primary survey data collected in two sub-districts of Gujarat, India, on a unique program that trains rural women with low human capital to repair village water handpumps, we examine the effect of skills training on their socio-economic outcomes. We find that participating in the training...

We provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of target-based performance evaluation for bureaucrats in the context of the Two Control Zones policy in China. In 2006, the Chinese central government made sulphur dixoide (SO2) emissions cuts a major performance evaluation criterion for...

We study the effect of (declining) Confucian social norms on human capital investment and savings rates in China. In our simple two-period model, parents have the option to invest in either a risk-free asset or the human capital of their child. We assume that social norms, and thus enforcement...

To improve drinking water accessibility and safety in rural China, the Chinese government launched the rural drinking water program in the 1980s. As part of the program, tap water infrastructure has been constructed in rural areas to supply tap water to rural residents. This policy intervention...

The paper provides a concise review of the treatment of external debt in macroeconomic analyses. In this regard, the paper considers: the development of indicators to quantify external debt alongside theoretical and empirical developments in which the indicators are utilized. Following the...

Ezra Mishan's (1967) famous articulation of the costs of economic growth included amongst others the rearrangement and loss of nature. This paper builds on this theme by recourse to two important concepts in science, namely the assimilative capacity of nature and the entropy of law of...