Die globale Armut ist allgegenwärtig: Die unheilvolle Allianz von Korruption und Gewalt stellt sich dem wirtschaftlichen Fortschritt gerade in Entwicklungsländern in den Weg. Die Rede ist von Warlords in Afrika, chinesischen Schmugglern und Diplomaten, die ihre Strafzettel nicht zahlen: Wenige...

Fighting for economic development -- Suharto, Inc -- The smuggling gap -- Nature or nurture? : understanding the culture of corruption -- No water, no peace -- Death by a thousand small cuts -- The road back from war -- Learning to fight economic gangsters -- Epilogue : doing better this time

Corruption is believed to be a major factor impeding economic development, but the importance of legal enforcement versus cultural norms in controlling corruption is poorly understood. To disentangle these two factors, we exploit a natural experiment, the stationing of thousands of diplomats...

Meet the economic gangster. He's the United Nations diplomat who double-parks his Mercedes on New York City streets at rush hour because the cops can't touch him--he has diplomatic immunity. He's the Chinese smuggler who dodges tariffs by magically transforming frozen chickens into frozen...