This paper's point of departure is that low-quality institutions, concentration of political power, and underdevelopment are persistent over time. Its analytical model views an equal distribution of political power as a commitment device to enhance institutional quality thereby promoting growth....

Public investment can cause the preferences of the decisive voter in one period to differ from preferences of the decisive voter in an earlier period. Forward-looking voters may therefore vote against a policy that would increase the incomes of all persons. The effect may arise when increased...

High inequality in human capital may result in appropriation. In anticipation, the rich may favor policies which induce a more equal distribution of human capital, such as income transfers and mandatory schooling. This paper compares several such alternatives. We find that mandatory schooling...

We consider two types of consumers, educated and uneducated, with each preferring a different variety of goods. A decisive set of persons can impose compulsory education on all. We find conditions under which educated persons will want to impose compulsory education, and conditions under which...

Employing the canonical political agency model, this Paper studies the incentives of the government to provide high-quality services by reducing corruption. Acting as a principal in a moral hazard framework, the public disciplines the incumbent by replacing him if the generated output is...

To what extent do imposed institutions shape preferences? We consider this issue by comparing the market-versus-state attitudes of respondents from a capitalist country, Finland, and an ex-communist group of Baltic countries, and by arguing that the period of communist rule can be viewed as an...

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) En este trabajo se presentan la teoría y los elementos de prueba de los factores determinantes del tamaño del sector informal. Proponemos un modelo teórico simple en el que el tamaño del sector informal guarda una relación negativa con la calidad...