We use new data on the timing of the transition to agriculture, developed by Putterman and Trainor (2006), to test the theory of Diamond (1997) and Olsson and Hibbs (2005) that an earlier transition is reflected in higher incomes today. Our results confirm the theory, even after controlling for...

We decisively reject the hypothesis that geographical factors influence long-run only indirectly, through the quality of institutions. The direct influence of geography on per capita incomes is robust to the inclusion of a sub-Saharan Africa dummy and other tests. We obtain our results by...

Official and four alternative regime classification schemes based on observed exchange rate behaviour are used to examine the relationship with inflation and growth in developing countries. For an identical sample of observations from 73 countries for 1984-2001, only the scheme based on parallel...

Using data from 1980 to 2004, we show that greater fiscal policy volatility acts as a transmission mechanism for the ‘resource curse’. Resource exports dominate political and institutional variables as determinants of fiscal policy volatility, with fiscal policy volatility being a...

We compare the relationship between net capital inflows, real exchange rate movements and growth for twenty emerging markets and thirteen developed countries over the period 1985-2004. In developed countries low real exchange rates are associated with faster growth, but in emerging markets...

Growth rates of per capita GDP are depressed by civil conflict to a degree that reflects its severity. Only the more severe conflicts – ones that affect at least half of the country by land area and/or cause more than 1,000 fatalities in at least one year – have a significant negative growth...

This research challenges previous findings regarding the robustness of the African growth dummy by expanding the list of variables to include those suggested by Easterly and Levine (1998) and Sachs and Warner (1997b). Using the Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates approach, this paper...

Official and four alternative regime classification schemes based on observed exchange rate behaviour are used to examine the relationship with inflation and growth in developing countries. For an identical sample of observations from 73 countries for 1984-2001, only the scheme based on parallel...

We compare the relationship between net capital inflows, real exchange rate movements and growth for twenty emerging markets and thirteen developed countries over the period 1985-2004. In developed countries low real exchange rates are associated with faster growth, but in emerging markets...

Using data from 1980 to 2004, we show that greater fiscal policy volatility acts as a transmission mechanism for the resource curse. Resource exports dominate political and institutional variables as determinants of fiscal policy volatility, with fiscal policy volatility being a significant...