Much of the literature on consumption smoothing and on risk sharing has focused on the ability of the household as a unit to protect its consumption. Little is known about the ability of individual members of the household to keep consumption smooth over time or relative to other members of the...

Research in the field of economic development is increasingly engaged with questions of political economy, of how political choices, institutional structures, and forms of governance influence the economic choices made by governments and citizens. We summarize recent developments in the field...