William Easterly

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop a conceptual framework based on the idea of social cohesion, then review the evidence on which it is based, concluding that key development outcomes are most likely to be associated with countries that are both socially cohesive and governed by effective public institutions.

TL;DR: The authors developed a simple model that sheds light on the experience of decade-long growth rates in all countries and found that episodes of rapid growth are limited largely to a middle range of initial income; neither very poor nor very rich countries experienced rapid growth.

TL;DR: This paper cast doubt on this claim for strong effects of national policies, pointing out that such effects are inconsistent with several stylized facts and seem to depend on extreme observations in growth regressions, and more modest effects of policy are consistent with theoretical models that feature substitutability between the formal and informal sector, have a large share for the informal sector or stress technological change rather than factor accumulation.

TL;DR: The authors found that high inequality is a large and statistically significant barrier to developing the mechanisms by which prosperity is achieved, such as institutions, redistributive policies, and schooling, by which the literature has argued that a higher middle class share raises per capita income.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on best practices in the way in which official aid is given, an important component of wider debate, and compare 48 aid agencies along these dimensions, distinguishing between bilateral and multilateral ones.