The effect of within-group heterogeneity on the survival of social groups is theoretically ambiguous. A greater diversity of ideas, experience, and networks can have a positive effect on members’ benefits from group membership, but diversity also creates a potential for conflict. This paper...

This paper estimates the effect of education on the success of entrepreneurial activity, using survey data from Malawi. An instrument variable approach is used to address the endogeneity of education. We find a significant and substantial effect of an added year of primary education on...

Does corruption attract or deter foreign investment in the extractive sectors? This article presents an econometric analysis of extractive industry foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to 81 countries in the period 1996–2009. The results suggest that increased corruption within a country is...

A number of studies document an in-group bias in social dilemma situations. While group structure and dynamics are important in shaping in-group favouritism, less attention has been paid to individual characteristics affecting favouritism. Using data from

The effect of government decentralization on corruption is theoretically ambiguous. On the one hand, bringing government closer to the people could increase accountability and reduce corruption. On the other hand, decentralization could increase local capture and uncoordinated bribe taking...

Does diversification of an economy improve the chances of democracy? This paper estimates the effect of export diversification on democracy levels, using data from 143 countries. The endogeneity of diversification is addressed by using variability within countries in fertile soil as an...

This article estimates returns to education among entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, using unique survey data from 2012. Our main instrument for education is the education of the father of the entrepreneur, and we control for sibling education in order to take out the potential effect of father...

Summary Transparency is increasingly viewed as central to curbing corruption and other dysfunctions of resource-rich developing countries. The international development community has pushed transparency in resource revenues through such initiatives as the Extractive Industries Transparency...

Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations imposed by the developed world, significantly reduce the export opportunities of developing countries. Under the SPS Agreement, developed countries are obliged to provide technical assistance to developing countries, to help them meet SPS...