https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39868 Sat, 24 Oct 2026 20:46:01 GMT 2026-10-24T20:46:01Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39949 Title: Cross-country heterogeneity and the trade-income relationship Authors: Herzer, Dierk Abstract: This paper makes two contributions to the literature on the impact of trade on income. First, we use heterogeneous panel cointegration techniques that are robust to omitted variables and endogenous regression to estimate the effect of trade on income for 81 developed and developing countries, both for the sample as a whole and for each individual country. Second, we use a general-to-specific variable selection approach to identify important determinants of the effect of trade on income. Our main finding s are: (i) A one percent increase in the trade share of GDP yields, on average, a statistically significant increase in income per worker of about 0.16 percent. This result is in contrast to previous studies, which tend to produce either unreasonably large or statistically insignificant estimates of the impact of the trade on income. (ii) There are large cross-country differences in the income effect of trade, in particular between developed and developing countries. For developed countries the income effect of trade is positive, whereas trade has, on average, a negative impact on income in developing countries. (iii) The cross-county heterogeneity in the impact of trade on income can be explained mainly by cross-county differences in primary export dependence, labour market regulation, and property rights protection. The level of property rights protection is positively related, while the level of primarily export dependence and labour market regulation is negatively related to the income effect of trade. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39949 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39927 Title: Land Inequality and Conflict Intensity Authors: De Luca, Giacomo; Sekeris, Petros Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of land inequality on conflict intensity. A fundamental distinction with the existing literature lies in the nature of inequality under consideration. We investigate how land inequality across landlords only influences the intensity of the fight against a rebel group constituted by landless individuals. We show that conflict intensity is non-monotonic in land inequality. In particular, the most severe conflicts occur for intermediate land inequality levels. Moreover, a Pareto improving transfer of land from the smaller to the larger landlord may exist. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39927 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39955 Title: THE MACROECONOMIC IMPACT OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: EVIDENCE FROM HURRICANE STRIKES IN THE CENTRAL AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN REGION Authors: Strobl, Eric Abstract: In this paper we investigate the macroeconomic impact of natural disasters in developing countries by examining hurricane strikes in the Central American and Caribbean region. Our innovation in this regard is to employ a windfield model combined with a power dissipation equation on hurricane track data to arrive at a more scientifically based index of potential local destruction. This index allows us to identify potential damages at a detailed geographical level, compare hurricanes' destructiveness, as well as identify the countries most affected, without having to rely on potentially questionable monetary loss estimates. Combining our destruction index with macroeconomic data we show that the average hurricane strike caused output to fall by up to 0.8 percentage points in the region, although this crucially depends on controlling for local economic characteristics of the country affected. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39955 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39932 Title: Credit market imperfections, financial market regulation and business cycles in Eastern Europe Authors: Drechsel, Katja; Westermann, Frank Abstract: Credit market imperfections give rise to boom-bust cycle episodes in emerging markets. In the present paper, we aim to provide a comprehensive analysis for Eastern Europe. We focus on documenting credit market imperfections, asymmetric financing opportunities across sectors, and business cycle fluctuations at the aggregate and sectoral level. The results will be discussed in the policy context of the re-regulation of the financial system. We will propose in an unconventional way to think about the early introduction of the Euro currency. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39932 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z