This paper offers an overview of the strengths and limitations in current empirical research on the measurement of state capacity. The paper also surveys the fast emerging literature on the determinants and effects of state capacity. We argue that existing measures on governance quality used in...

This paper is an assessment of what we know about the political determinants of economic growth. It begins by setting out the stylized facts of economic growth. The paper suggests that there is a need to shift away from much of the previous literature's emphasis on the determinants of long-run...

What drives income diversification among rural households in developing countries? A large literature has examined whether household income diversification is a means of survival or a means of accumulation, which has so far remained inconclusive. This paper attempts to evaluate which explanation...

This paper examines the role of the external institutional environment captured by effective state-business relations on firm performance. By effective state-business relations, we mean a set of highly institutionalised, responsive and public interactions between the state and the business...

There has been increasing ‘flexibilisation,' in the formal labour markets of both developed and developing countries. Labour institutions and globalisation are often taken to be causally related to this phenomenon, but the evidence remains inconclusive. In India, there has been an increasing...

There has been a sharp fall in female labour force participation (LFP) in rural India between 2004-05 and 2009-2010. Why has this occurred? We look at the four standard explanations put forward for the decline – that more women in rural areas are now pursuing higher education and are therefore...

Empirical studies on total factor productivity growth (TFPG) in developing countries highlight trade open-ness, research and development and market structure as being the most important determinants of TFPG. The role of institutions remains overlooked in the literature on the determinants of...

This paper analyses the productivity performance of the Indian manufacturing sector using unit level data, which is aggregated at four-digit industry level for the period 1994-95 to 2004-05 for 15 major states. The study focuses on both the organized and unorganized segments of the manufacturing...

Women in developing countries are less likely to be entrepreneurs than men. In contrast to the previous literature on the determinants of female entrepreneurship, which looks at the role of imperfections in factor and product markets, this paper examines whether an important constraint on women...