We examine how socio-political conflict in Bolivia has affected its economic performance since the 1970s. Such conflict includes strikes, demonstrations, road blockades, and conventional rent-seeking. Since conflict has costs, it diverts resources away from production, tends to reduce investment...

This paper studies how divided government – arising when control of the government branches is split between parties – affects the polarization of the legislature and policy implementation. Using data on electoral and legislative outcomes for US states and a regression-discontinuity design,...

This paper exploits the idiosyncratic line of contact separating Allied and Soviet troops within East Germany at the end of WWII to study political resistance in a non-democracy. When Nazi Germany surrendered, 40% of what would become the authoritarian German Democratic Republic was initially...

This study was motivated by the quest to investigate how the interaction between corruption and institutional quality affects Nigeria's economic performance by testing the validity of the "sand the wheels" and "grease the wheels" corruption hypothesis through the Barro-type endogenous growth...

This paper exploits the idiosyncratic line of contact separating Allied and Soviet troops within East Germany at the end of WWII to study political resistance in a non-democracy. When Nazi Germany surrendered, 40% of what would become the authoritarian German Democratic Republic was initially...

Thorough structural change occurs periodically across world economies. In a parsimonious overlapping generation setup with political economy, we present a novel result: structural change not only exacerbates the rise in inequality but also strengthens the preference for redistribution. Labor...

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic undermined the populist legacy of Philippine president Rodrigo R. Duterte. Despite implementing one of the longest and strictest lockdowns globally, the country has struggled with controlling the pandemic. While Duterte looks to have triumphed in his attack...

We suggest that people advocate for equality also because they fear income losses below a given reference point. Stabilizing their baseline income can make workers more tolerant of inequality. We present evidence of this attitude in the UK by exploiting the introduction of the National Minimum...

This study was aimed at examining the linkages between corruption, environmental sustainability, and economic performance. It was motivated by the quest to test the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in Nigerian. The EKC hypothesis explains the nexus between economic...

The German economy is in difficult waters. Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, there has been no end to the challenges posed by interruptions in production and supply problems. Despite the need for crisis management, politicians have pledged not to lose sight of environmental...