structural models

New research on China shows that entrepreneurs who start multiple firms are more productive on average – but this conceals a troubling pattern: some succeed not because of skill, but because of preferential access to finance.

Equal land distribution in pre-industrial East Asia paradoxically drove poverty by enabling higher fertility among landowning households, creating population pressure that depressed wages. This dynamic explains why East Asia diverged from Western Eur...

Many formal firms in sub-Saharan Africa only register after operating informally for a few years in order to grow and overcome financial constraints. Evidence from Nigeria suggests that taxes and enforcement – rather than registration costs alone – a...

In Brazil, education raised productivity and reduced informality, while minimum wage increases compressed inequality but risked lowering formal employment for low-skilled workers.

In India, women city councillors outperform men. Yet gender quotas actually reduce the overall welfare of voters as deep-seated discrimination against women outweighs policy gains. Alternative designs can improve both representation and welfare.

Valuing the time of the self-employed is crucial for evaluating interventions and conducting cost-benefit analysis. Yet research often misprices this value at zero or equal to market wages. New evidence from Kenya suggests a practical fix: value unpa...