In the early 1980s, interest rate ceilings and other regulations affecting financial assets were lifted in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The paper finds that liberalization of interest rates significantly increased the real return on financial assets in Thailand and Indonesia,...

The interaction of fertility and infant mortality is well established. Lower infant mortality can lead to lower fertility by reducing the need for replacement births. Conversely, birth spacing improves the chances of child survival. To find out how these programs reinforce each other, a study...

This paper investigates how the potential duration of unemployment benefits affects the quality of post-unemployment jobs. It takes advantage of a natural experiment introduced by a change in Slovenia's unemployment insurance law that substantially reduced the potential benefit duration....

It is a well-known fact that one of the most important determinants of growth is private investment. But in the developing country context of widespread poverty, the effects of initial conditions on the process of capital accumulation have seldom been investigated. This paper highlights...

In a one-period model, whether or not individual weights in the welfare function are based on initial endowments dictate who provides public goods. But with long-term public goods, banning wealth redistribution still allows for several equilibriums depending on Parties'willingness to acknowledge...

To examine the relationship between patient satisfaction and doctor performance, the authors observed 2,271 interactions between 292 doctors and their patients in 98 clinics and hospitals in Paraguay and conducted an exit-survey with the same patients as they left the clinic. For a subsample of...

The Millennium Development Goals set quantitative targets for poverty reduction and improvements in health, education, gender equality, the environment, and other aspects of human welfare. At existing rates of progress many countries will fall short of these goals. However, if developing...

This study reviews regulatory instruments designed to reduce environmental externalities from the transport sector. The study finds that the main regulatory instruments used in practice are fuel economy standards, vehicle emission standards, and fuel quality standards. Although industrialized...

In the past decade the developing countries have tried much harder to achieve macroeconomic stability than they have to eliminate inefficiencies from microeconomic distortions. The author has pursued a relatively new line of inquiry in examining measurement of the social income losses induced by...