[vsw id="R55e-uHQna0" source="youtube" width="425" height="344" autoplay="no"] Remember the 2011 Superbowl “Darth Vader Kid ad where a young boy attempts to use The Force to start a washer and wake up the dog? The Force only works on a Volkswagen Passat, after his father - hiding behind the kitchen window -uses the car’s remote to start it. We are fascinated that a little … [Read more...] about Laptops, children and Darth Vader
Corruption and growth, revisited
Some years ago, there was a tsunami in the economics literature on the relationship between economic growth and corruption. When it became clear that correlation is not causation, and that perception is not necessarily reality, the wave dwindled, although a corruption-index industry did thrive, (for a while). A recent paper retakes this issue from a more rigorous … [Read more...] about Corruption and growth, revisited
Can Mexico make the leap in Innovation?
In 2012, President Enrique Peña Nieto set the very ambitious goal of increasing Mexico’s investment in Science and Technology from the current 0.4 percent to 1 percent of GDP by the end of his mandate in 2018. This commitment has generated a strong debate on what policies should be adopted to support such an extraordinary effort. In this framework, the question on … [Read more...] about Can Mexico make the leap in Innovation?
Can land markets reduce land inequality in developing countries?
By Leonardo Corral* and Heath Henderson** Land inequality in developing countries has been found to hamper long-term economic growth and also mitigate the poverty-reducing effects of existing growth by limiting effective access to land by the rural poor. Further, given the often-observed inverse relationship between farm size and productivity, land inequality can … [Read more...] about Can land markets reduce land inequality in developing countries?
How to avoid building more bad roads?
By Graham Watkins* A month ago I was bumping along a dusty road in the Beni (Bolivia) from San Borja to San Ignacio de Moxos. Someone in the car said that this road had been named as the “worst road in the world.” That reminded me of a 36 hours trip on the Georgetown-Lethem road (Guyana). We only had to travel 60 kilometers in an old British Army Bedford truck, but the … [Read more...] about How to avoid building more bad roads?