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Using several rounds of the Afrobarometer surveys, we examine whether a person’s perception of government fairness depends on whether he shares the same ethnicity as the country’s leader. We also compare results based on this subjective measure of unfairness from those that consider whether various public amenities (like a school or clinic) are more likely to be present for those with the same ethnicity as the leader. We find that perceptions of unfair treatment are held more often by those of differing ethnicity as the leader. These findings weaken for democracies but not over time where they may even have intensified during Africa’s slower growth after 2010. Finally, differences across ethnicity in perceptions of unfairness are stronger than differences arising from the presence of amenities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the effects upon human capital in a host country when foreign universities open branches within this country. We create a model where aspiring students differ according to inherent ability and choose endogenously how much time to devote to preparing to win admittance to a university. Universities can either be domestic or foreign, and payoffs for the student differ between them. The presence of these foreign universities can potentially increase effort--and so human capital--by providing more incentive to study. However, they can also lead to brain drain as students could be more likely to emigrate upon graduation relative to those who attend a domestic university. We apply this model to China and use parameter values in simulations to assess to what extent inflow of foreign universities provide benefits to China. (JEL D82, 123. 125), I. INTRODUCTION Traditionally, cross-border consumption of education has consisted of students studying abroad, going to the site of the education provider. More recently, online courses have allowed students to consume [...]

This paper empirically examines associations between female labor force participation (FLFP) and democracy. Using a cross-country, time series (1980-2005) data set, we find evidence that FLFP is lower in democracies. One possible explanation is that dictators promote FLFP above what traditional norms would dictate and so a greater freedom to follow custom lowers FLFP. However, we also find that the ratio of FLFP to male labor force participation (MLFP) is similar under both types of regimes and that MLFP is also lower in democracies. This outcome casts doubt on the aforementioned explanation. Instead, one possibility is that both men and women voluntarily withdraw from the labor force with greater freedoms.

Examines whether devoting more resources to education can positively affect the distribution of income within a country. Finds that public-education expenditures appear to be associated with a subsequent decrease in the level of income inequality. Finding is robust to the inclusion of various control variables and appears to be larger in high-income nations. (Contains 30 references.) (Author/PKP)

Empirical results, which examine the impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth and income inequality in developing countries, during 1970 and 1989, are presented.

This paper presents research evidence to show that countries with high enrolment in colleges and universities have seen a decrease in the disparity of high and low income earners.

Sources of total factor productivity (TFP) growth for the period 1977-2000 in the 48 states of the continental US are determined using the stochastic frontier production model. Technological progress is found to be behind the majority of TFP growth while cross-state differences are due to differences in efficiency change.

Despite the abundant literature on how crime evolves over the business cycle, no consensus has arisen whether crime increases or decreases during recessions. The literature provides both positive and negative associations between the crime rate and the unemployment rate, a commonly used proxy for the business cycle. This study revisits this issue and uses county-level data from 1990 to 2013. It allows for differences as to how unemployment relates to both property crime and violent crime depending on the size of the counties. We find evidence of a positive association between unemployment and property crime that strengthens with county size. The results show the same pattern for violent crime but are statistically weaker. Our findings suggest that the positive association between property crime and unemployment that others have found is largely driven by more populous areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically examines whether remittance inflows affect emigration. We consider a panel of 133 developing countries as migrant source countries and seven five-year windows between 1980 and 2010. Because inflows of remittances could be endogenous, we employ a dynamic GMM estimation methodology. We find that inflows of remittances are positively associated with subsequent stocks of highly educated migrants living in OECD countries. We find little association between remittance inflows and subsequent changes in stocks of less educated migrants. Although many see the level of migration as influencing remittance flows, our results suggest that causality goes in the other direction as well, implying that the inflow of remittances could be a push-factor for emigration, at least for those with more education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Anecdotal evidence suggests that people migrate to avoid air pollution. In this paper, we empirically examine the extent to which air pollution is a push factor for international migration. We allow air pollution to affect migrants differently according to their educational attainment as well as their gender. We also instrument for the level of pollution. Results generally show that air pollution is positively associated with emigration for higher educated individuals but less so for those with less educational attainment. Gender differences are less pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries face governing challenges at their inception, albeit not of the same degree or type. Challenges such as creating governing structures and forming one nation from disparate groups can create uncertainty and so lower economic growth. Does democracy exacerbate or lessen such problems? This paper considers an empirical specification where the effect of democracy upon economic growth is allowed to vary over time. I find that democracy is more greatly associated with economic growth in newer countries. This suggests that democracy helps to mitigate governing challenges that can lower economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies find that democracy increases economic growth but often do not address through what channels such an effect could travel. This study considers whether or not democracy strengthens the rule of law, an institutional measure purported to increase economic growth. Utilizing a panel dataset from 1984 to 2007 for 127 countries and both fixed effect and dynamic GMM methodologies, we examine whether democracy promotes the rule of law. We generally find a short run positive influence upon the rule of law although effects are greatest for low income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies examining whether corruption lowers economic growth do not consider if the effects of corruption differ across countries. Whether corruption produces the same effects everywhere or whether its effects are conditional on some country characteristics are important questions. We investigate the association between corruption and growth, where the marginal impact of corruption is allowed to differ across democratic and nondemocratic regimes. Using cross-country, annual data from 1984 to 2007, we regress growth on corruption, democracy and their interaction. We find that decreases in corruption raise growth but more so in authoritarian regimes. Possible reasons are that in autocracies corruption causes more uncertainty, is of a more pernicious nature, or is less substitutable with other forms of rent seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have considered how democratization affects economic growth. We expand this work by allowing short- and long-run effects of democracy upon growth to differ since effects during political transitions need not coincide with those under established democracies. We also allow these short- and long-run effects to differ across world regions since history, demography and geography vary across regions. Using annual, cross-county data from 1960 to 2010, we find that democratizations increased growth rates in sub-Saharan Africa both in the short run and in the long run but lowered them in Europe. Effects in other regions appear less strong. Our results suggest that democracy could be most beneficial for growth in poorer, less stable regions. We also do not find any evidence of a transitional cost. Stronger evidence arises that these effects come from rising productivity rather than through greater investment. Finally, some support though mixed suggests that democracy's ability to mitigate the effects of ethnic heterogeneity provides a partial explanation for the cross-regional heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jones and Olken (JO; 2009) report that the outcome of an assassination attempt – whether it is successful or not – matters for political institutions. We question how these institutions are classified. Revisiting their methodology shows that their findings are generally robust to reasonable differences in classification, thereby strengthening their conclusions that leadership and luck matter for political outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper empirically examines whether female labour force participation (FLFP) in a cross-section of countries between 1985 and 2005 varies depending upon the religion practised in these countries. Using a cross-sectional empirical specification, we initially find that FLFP is lower in Muslim countries. However, the association between Islam and FLFP greatly diminishes once other controls are included in the regression, suggesting that Islam might not diminish FLFP as some have argued. Moreover, once these additional controls are included, the association between Islam and FLFP is similar to that between Catholicism and FLFP. Countries where Protestantism is prevalent or where no religion is practised have higher FLFP. Finally, we find some evidence that the association between FLFP and religion is weakening over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article estimates inefficiency and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) across Indonesian provinces from 1993 to 2000. Indonesia is a large emerging market economy, but provinces within the country (due to the island structure of the country) are more distinct from one another compared to other countries. We use a stochastic frontier methodology to estimate inefficiency and TFP. We find that TFP fell by an average rate of 7.5% across provinces due to the decrease in technical efficiency. In fact, the majority of output growth within Indonesia is explained by the accumulation of inputs. In this sense, economic growth within Indonesia does not appear to be sustainable without reversing these trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines associations between historical factors and whether or not autocratic regimes in 1972 later democratized after controlling for current characteristics. Many historical factors are not relevant, although European influence as measured by the fraction of the population speaking a western European language is an exception and is positively associated with democratization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examples whether developing countries receiving more foreign aid also have higher rates of urbanization. After presenting a simple theoretical model, empirical work is conducted on a cross-section of countries during the 1990s. The paper finds that foreign aid is positively associated with subsequent urbanization even after controlling for income levels, population, and regional characteristics. If this association is given a causal interpretation, the results indicate that foreign aid enlarges urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]