The aim of this paper is to investigate the following questions: Is an abundance of oil, a curse or a blessing? What are the effects of oil abundance on growth and economic development, as seen in the level of income per ...

In this paper, I analyze the Latin American development problem using a model with input-output linkages, sectorial productivity gaps, and sector-specific distortions. I provide a characterization of the sectorial linkages ...

This paper begins by reviewing the problem of tax evasion measurement. Based on available data, I conclude that this problem is far from being negligible, both for developed and developing countries. I also present in more ...

We estimate the development effects of electrification across Brazil over the period 1960-2000. Brazil relies almost exclusively on hydropower, which requires intercepting water at high velocity. We build an engineering ...

América Latina cuenta con el mayor número de países de ingreso medio del mundo, sin embargo, durante la mayor parte del siglo XX las tasas de crecimiento per cápita de los países de la región fueron inferiores a aquellas ...

The paper assesses the impact of natural resource abundance on state formation by looking at how tax structures responded to booming periods in the early ages of the Chilean and Peruvian republic, 1850-1930s. The paper ...

Este ensayo analiza la evolución del gasto público en América Latina a lo largo de las dos últimas décadas, y ofrece como referencia una perspectiva de más larga duración cuando la disponibilidad de estadísticas lo permite. ...

This paper examines three sets of questions related to the use of non-renewable natural resource rents: (1) To what extent countries rich in non-renewable natural resources use such rents to increase present consumption ...

This paper explores testable implications of a simple model of spatial heterogeneity in earnings, a model in which this spatial heterogeneity arises both from differences in the places that people work and differences among ...

Using a survey of firms in 61 countries around the world (WBES) and econometric techniques that allow us to deal with observed and unobserved country specific components as well as with partial endogeneity, we explore the ...