Working Paper
Savings By and For the Poor
The poor can and do save, but often use formal or informal instruments that have high risk, high cost, and limited functionality. This could lead to undersaving compared to a world without market or behavioural frictions. Undersaving can have...
Working Paper
When to Start a New Firm?
The success of new start-up firms often depends on timing. It is valuable for the potential entrepreneur to wait for the right moment before starting a new firm. In this paper we provide a theoretical model to determine the optimal time for starting...
Working Paper
Firm Location Choice in Cities
We use large survey data sets of firms provided by the World Bank for China, India, and Brazil—Investment Climate Surveys—to address the important question: what determines the locational choice of firms among cities in these countries. We find that...
Working Paper
What sustains informality?
We consider two vertical links between informal- and formal-sector firms and study their implications. In one case, the final products produced by the formal- and informal-sector firms are vertically differentiated in terms of quality, and the size...
Working Paper
Gender Differentiation in the Analysis of Alternative Farm Mechanization Choices on Small Farms in Kenya
Using multinomial logit we analyze factors that influence the choice of mechanization technologies in Nyanza Province. The results show that farmers are aware of the attributes of the mechanization technologies, and that animal traction is the most...
Blog
Global Labour Standards versus Freedom of Choice
by
Kaushik Basu
2003
by Kaushik Basu The Conundrum Most reasonable people agree that workers, wherever they happen to be, should have the guarantee of certain basic rights...
News
Contribution to a Special issue Celebrating Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen's 75th Birthday
A new paper by Wim Naudé entitled 'Entrepreneurship and Human Development: A Capability Approach', has been included in a recent special issue of the Journal of Public Economics (Vol. 95 (3-4), celebrating Amartya Sen's 75th birthday.