From the abstract: "A growing literature in political economy explores the advantages of participatory democracy for development. Yet one of the most important questions remains: What accounts for di?erences in participation among the poor? In this paper I empirically examine whether welfare programs are part of the answer, based on analysis of a poverty alleviation program launched by the Mexican government in 1997."
Studies
Ana Lorena De La O / Mexico / 2006
Benjamin Jones, Benjamin Olken / Global / 2006
From the abstract: "Economic growth within countries varies sharply across decades. This paper examines one explanation for these sustained shifts in growth
Rajiv Chandrasekaram / Iraq / 2006
An involved and revealing account of the Coalition Provisional Authority's role in Iraq in 2003-2004; with special focus on the American base in the Republican Palace, the growing insurgency, and the eventual dissolution of the CPA.
William Easterly / 2006
From the website: "Today, as then, the Big Push recommendation overlooks the unsolvable information and incentive problems facing any large scale planning exercise. A more promising approach would be to design incentives for aid agents to implement interventions piecemeal whenever they deliver large benefits for the poor relative to costs.
Daron Acemoglu, James Robinson / Global / 2005
Examines the creation and consolidation of different forms of government; in particular, examines the economic drivers of political institutions, the role of conflict, and the importance of political institutions in determining future political power.
History, institutions, and economic performance: The legacy of colonial land tenure systems in India
Abhijit Banerjee, Lakshmi Iyer / India / 2005
From the website: "We analyze the colonial land revenue institutions set up by the British in India, and show that differences in historical property rights institutions lead to sustained differences in economic outcomes."
Rohini Pande, Christopher Udry / Global / 2005
From the abstract: "In this paper we argue the case for greater exploitation of synergies between research on specific institutions based on micro-data and the big questions posed by the institutions and growth literature."
Jeffrey Sachs / Global / 2005
Foreign aid targeted at known development issues - for example, health concerns - would empower the poor to defend the rule of law in areas of corruption.
Ritva Reinikka, Jakob Svensson / Uganda / 2004
From the abstract: "This paper exploits an unusual policy experiment to evaluate the e?ects of increased public access to information as a tool to reduce capture and corruption of public funds."
Raghabendra Chattopadhyay, Esther Duflo / India / 2004
This paper uses political reservations for women in India to study the impact of women
