Natural disasters are not rare and costless events. Indeed, the evidence indicates there has been an acceleration in the number of disasters and the associated costs over the past century. Such disasters can cause severe property damage in the communities affected. Typically, insurance policies...

We examine the impact of institutional trading on stock resiliency during the financial crisis of 2007-2009. We show that buy-side institutions have different exposure to liquidity factors based on their trading style. Liquidity supplying institutions absorb the long-term order imbalances in the...

Using Growth at Risk as a measure of downside growth risk, the authors find that higher perceived levels of downside growth risk seem to be negatively associated with long-term growth. Output collapses and crises are a fact of life. Severe economic downturns occur periodically and have grave...

Equal access to education is a basic human right. But in many countries gaps in education between various groups are staggering. An education Gini index - a new indicator for the distribution of human capital and welfare - facilitates comparison of education inequality across countries and over...

Human, natural, and physical capital assets are a country's main resources for growth and welfare improvements. Their distribution, growth and productivity largely determine people's income and welfare. The poor rely on human and natural capital in addition to physical capital, so the...