The virtual economy argument for Russia suggests that barter allows the parties to pretend that the manufacturing sector is producing value added by enabling this sector to sell its output at a higher price than its market value. We confront this prediction with the actual pricing behavior of...

The compensation of executive board members in Germany has become a highly controversial topic since Vodafone's hostile takeover of Mannesmann in 2000 and it is again in the spotlight since the outbreak of the financial crisis of 2009. Based on unique panel data evidence of the 500 largest firms...

What needs to be done to address the phenomenon that money has vanished as a medium of exchange from the economies of the former Soviet Union? Based on the finding that barter is a response to imperfect capital and input markets, the paper argues why expansionary monetary policy in barter...

This paper builds a model that provides a unified explanation for the onset of the financial crisis in 1998 and the striking economic recovery in Russia afterwards. We argue that before the crisis, the banking sector in Russia was stuck in a banking development trap due to firms incentives to...

We develop a theory of endogenous regimes transitions (with a focus on democratic consolidation), which emphasizes the role of political culture and of its interaction with political institutions. Political culture reflects the extent of individual commitment across citizens to defend democracy...

This paper provides a unified explanation for why blacks commit more crime, are located in poorer neighborhoods and receive lower wages than whites. If everybody believes that blacks are more criminal than whites - even if there is no basis for this - then blacks are offered lower wages and, as...