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This study proposes that countries with a cultural orientation toward individualism tend to enjoy a higher level of financial development. Estimates based on cross‐country data lend strong support to this hypothesis. Specifically, the results indicate that existing disparity in the level of financial development is significantly correlated with variation in the extent of individualism across countries, where a one standard deviation increase in individualism is associated with 0.631 standard deviations improvement in the level of financial development. The results are robust to a number of considerations. Additional results provide some support to the notion that individualistic culture and legal origin may serve as complements rather than substitutes to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This research establishes that the emergence and persistence of intrastate conflict incidence since 1960 are influenced by regional agro-ecological factors captured by the extent of variation in potential crop yield. Our results based on cross-country and grid-level analysis indicate that higher potential crop yield variability within a country that is exogenous to both human intervention and regional culture increases the likelihood of intrastate conflict. Our findings are robust to the inclusion of various geographical, institutional, and potentially confounding economic development correlates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: Higher exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV‐R) is associated with greater prevalence of eye disease such as cataracts. We hypothesize that the variation in the intensity of UV‐R can help explain the differences in institutional quality observed across countries. The long‐term incentive and ability to improve the quality of institutions decline when the probability of blindness increases. Our reduced‐form cross‐country results support this hypothesis. We then propose that the mechanism works from the impact of UV‐R on the prevalence of eye disease, which in turn shapes institutions. Our empirical evidence lends considerable support to this hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how the implementation of modern climate change policies is related to former colonies' length of state history and their legal heritage. We argue that countries with longer statehood experience around the time of colonization were better equipped to implement the legal philosophies transplanted by their colonial powers. Therefore, the implications of receiving British common law versus French civil law should be particularly important in countries with a greater accumulated history of statehood. Using a cross-section of up to 78 former colonies, our results provide support for this hypothesis. In particular, our estimates demonstrate that common law countries have weaker modern climate change policies than civil law countries and the difference is inflated by a longer statehood experience, measured by the length of state history from 1 to 1800 AD. Legal origin has no effect in areas which, by the time of colonization, had no statehood experience. Finally, we report similar results for the pattern of labor market regulations. ( JEL K15, K31, K32, O44, Q54, Q58) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests Jared Diamond's influential theory that an earlier transition from a hunter-gatherer society to agricultural production induces higher levels of technology adoption. Using a proxy for the geographic diffusion barriers of Neolithic technology and an index of biogeographic endowments to isolate the exogenous component of the timing of agricultural transition, the findings indicate that countries that experienced earlier transitions to agriculture were subsequently more capable of adopting new technologies in 1000 BC, 1 AD, and 1500 AD. These results lend strong support to Diamond's hypothesis. ( JEL O30, O40) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the influence of quality-adjusted educational attainment on growth and tests whether it facilitates the transfer of technology developed at the frontier for a panel of 60 countries. Using outcomes of pathogen stress as instruments, the results show that quality-adjusted educational attainment and its interaction with distance to the frontier play important roles for growth. (JEL I20, O30, O40 ) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the importance of the domestic research and development stock and foreign knowledge spillovers on total factor productivity for six Asian miracle economies over the period from 1955 to 2006. The productivity effects of international knowledge spillovers through the following channels are considered: imports, exports, inward foreign direct investment, patents, geographical proximity, and the general channel. The general channel is a transmission mechanism where knowledge spillovers occur automatically and do not pass through any specific channel. The estimates show that knowledge has been transmitted through all the channels considered but that the import channel and the general channel have probably been the most important ones for the Asian miracle economies. ( JEL O10, O30, O40) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The main objective of this paper is to explore the impact of financial sector reforms, financial deepening, and intellectual property protection on the accumulation of knowledge for one of the world’s largest developing countries. The findings indicate that increased intellectual property rights protection is associated with higher knowledge accumulation. While financial deepening facilitates the accumulation of ideas, the implementation of a series of financial liberalization policies is found to have a non-linear effect. The results show that financial liberalization will exert a beneficial impact on technological deepening only if the financial system is sufficiently liberalized. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although the economy of China has grown very strongly over the last few decades, this spectacular performance has come at the expense of rapid environmental deterioration. Amidst animated debate on the issue of global warming, this study attempts to explore the determinants of CO2 emissions in China using aggregate data for more than half a century. Adopting an analytical framework that combines the environmental literature with modern endogenous growth theories, the results indicate that CO2 emissions in China are negatively related to research intensity, technology transfer and the absorptive capacity of the economy to assimilate foreign technology. Our findings also indicate that more energy use, higher income and greater trade openness tend to cause more CO2 emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: This paper examines the role of financial sector policies in determining private investment in the economies of India and Malaysia. The results suggest that significant directed credit programs favoring certain priority sectors tend to discourage private capital formation in both countries. Interest rate controls appear to have a positive impact on private investment, with the effect being more pronounced in Malaysia. While high reserve and liquidity requirements exert a negative influence on private investment in India, the effect is found to be positive in Malaysia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to examine the long-run relationship between output, pollutant emissions, and energy consumption in Malaysia during the period 1971–1999. To supplement the findings of cointegrating analysis, we assess the causal relationships between the variables using the recent causality tests available in the literature. The results indicate that pollution and energy use are positively related to output in the long-run. We found a strong support for causality running from economic growth to energy consumption growth, both in the short-run and long-run. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using annual time series data for the period 1960–2005, this paper examines the determinants of FDI for Malaysia to inform analytical and policy debates. Consistent with the prediction of the market size hypothesis, real GDP is found to have a significant positive impact on FDI inflows. There is evidence that growth rate of GDP exerts a small positive impact on inward FDI. From a policy point of view, the results suggest that increases in the level of financial development, infrastructure development, and trade openness promote FDI. On the other hand, higher statutory corporate tax rate and appreciation of the real exchange rate appear to discourage FDI inflows. Interestingly, the results also seem to suggest that higher macroeconomic uncertainty induces more FDI inflows. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The persistence of diversity is often associated with various negative economic outcomes, and yet the causes of its wide disparity throughout the world are not well understood. This paper hypothesizes the persistence of linguistic diversity (measured as the survival rate of indigenous languages) can be explained by the length of statehood experience. Using data for up to 133 countries, the results suggest that countries which have experienced a long history of pre-colonial statehood tend to have a lower degree of persistence of linguistic diversity today. This finding, therefore, provides some support to the view that a more established state has a greater capacity to reduce inter-group differences, thus contributing to less persistent linguistic diversity within a country. • The lack of state history provides conditions for language groups to diverge. • The paper shows that statehood experience reduces linguistic diversity. • This implies that language diversity should decrease with time as states mature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]