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Formal Institutions and Subjective Well-Being: Revisiting the Cross-Country Evidence
(2008)KOF Working PapersA long tradition in economics explores the association between the quality of formal institutions and economic performance. The literature on the relationship between such institutions and happiness is, however, rather limited. In this paper, we revisit the findings from recent cross-country studies on the institutions-happiness association. Our findings suggest that the conclusions reached by previous studies are fairly sensitive to the ...Working Paper -
Does Membership in International Organizations Increase Governments’ Credibility? Testing the Effects of Delegating Powers
(2008)KOF Working PapersThis paper analyzes whether nation-state governments can increase their credibility by becoming members of international organizations. Credibility is an important asset because it determines the real interest rate and is expected to have an important impact on investment and growth. It is hypothesized that the degree of delegation to international organizations can improve the credibility of nation-state governments. This hypothesis is ...Working Paper -
Decentralization as a Disincentive for Transnational Terror?
(2008)KOF Working PapersUsing panel data for a maximum of 109 countries over the years 1976-2000, we empirically analyze the impact of decentralization on the occurrence of transnational terror. Taking account of the potential simultaneity between terror and decentralization, our results show that expenditure decentralization robustly reduces the number of terror events in a country, while political decentralization has no impact.Working Paper -
Keeping a Low Profile: What Determines the Allocation of Aid by Non-Governmental Organizations?
(2008)KOF Working PapersNGOs play an important role in international development cooperation, but the allocation of NGO aid has rarely been mapped, let alone explained. Based on a representative dataset for 61 important NGOs from various OECD countries, we analyze the targeting of NGO aid across a large number of recipient countries by jointly considering major determinants of NGO aid in a multivariate regression framework. While our results show that NGOs are ...Working Paper -
Does the IMF Help or Hurt? The Effect of IMF Programs on the Likelihood and Outcome of Currency Crises
(2008)KOF Working PapersUsing panel data for 68 countries over the period 1975-2002 this paper examines how IMF programs, disbursed loans, and compliance with conditionality affect the risk of currency crises and the outcome of such crises. Specifically, we investigate whether countries with previous IMF intervention are more likely to experience currency crises. In a second step, we analyze the IMF’s impact on a country’s decision to adjust the exchange rate, ...Working Paper -
Do IMF and World Bank Programs Induce Government Crises? An Empirical Analysis
(2008)KOF Working PapersWe examine whether and under which circumstances World Bank projects and IMF programs affect the likelihood of major government crises. Using a sample of more than 90 developing countries over the period 1970-2002, we find that crises are on average more likely as a consequence of Bank and Fund involvement. While the effects of the IMF to some extent depend on the model specification, those of the World Bank are shown to be robust to the ...Working Paper -
IMF Conditionality: Theory and Evidence
(2008)KOF Working PapersThis article analyzes whether and to what extent reliance on conditionality is appropriate to guarantee the revolving character of Fund resources. The paper presents theoretical arguments in favour of conditionality, and those against the use of conditions. It summarizes the track record of program implementation and discusses the evidence of factors determining implementation. Whether proponents or critics of conditionality can be supported ...Working Paper