There has recently been a resurgence of interest in how institutions affect economic performance. A review of this literature reveals that the concept of an “institution” means different things to different scholars, both within economics and across the social sciences. We discuss what factors unify the different definitions of institutions, and develop a concept of institutions useful for the ...

During the last few years, companies have had an increasing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its implications in economic performance and competitive environment. However, as a result of the recent economic decline, CSR and the overall attitude of companies towards socially responsible activities have been affected. This article discusses the shift in the perception of CSR ...

Understanding sustainability in a broader sense, as relating to the nature and quality of economic growth, and drawing on the recent literature on the fundamental determinants of growth, this paper looks at the achievements and prospects of the internal sustainability of Arab countries. The countries are classified in four broad categories depending on their production structure. The relevant i...

The study presents recent global evidence on the transformation of economic growth to poverty reduction in developing countries, with emphasis on the role of income inequality. The focus is on the period since the early/mid-1990s when growth in these countries as a group has been relatively strong, surpassing that of the advanced economies. Both regional and country-specific data are analysed f...

Infrastructure planning for networked infrastructure such as grid electrification (or piped supply of water) has historically been a process of outward network expansion, either by utilities in response to immediate economic opportunity, or in response to a government mandate or subsidy intended to catalyze economic growth. While significant progress has been made in access to grid electricity ...

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) achieved rapid economic growth during the last 30 years, but its income distribution has worsened. In contrast, Republic of Korea and Taipei,China experienced high growth for several decades after the 1950s, while managing to keep income inequality low. This paper looks at development experiences of Republic of Korea and Taipei,China in the 1950s–1990s, and ...

To clarify the social life factors affecting suicide mortality in Japanese men and women, the relationship between a wide variety of social and demographic indicators and age-adjusted suicide mortality was assessed in 46 prefectures in Japan by stepwise multiple-regression analysis after classification of the indicators by factor analysis. The findings indicated that rural residence was the maj...

We show that in an AK model of endogenous growth with CRRA specifications for both private and public consumption goods, income inequality exerts theoretically ambiguous effects on the optimal capital tax rate and the economy’s growth rate. In a calibrated version of the model, we find that the parameter space can be clearly divided into regions that exhibit a positive or negative relationship ...

Women the world over face stark disparities in health, finance, education, politics, and other arenas. Persistent gender inequality may threaten economic growth and/or social progress.1 At the most micro level, discrimination impedes girls and women from achieving their individual hopes and dreams. Through its Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations has championed an increase in equali...

A large literature has documented striking increases in wage inequality over the past three decades in many advanced economies, including the U.S., the U.K., and Germany (e.g., Autor and Katz, 1999; Dustmann et al, 2009; Autor and Acemoglu, 2010). Using standard neoclassical economic models, analysts have attempted to partition these observed trends in the wage structure into components due to ...