Location, Competition, and Economic Development: Local Clusters in a Global Economy

Membrane Research in a Global Context Requires Collaboration, not Competition!

Essays in Economic Development and Political Economy

This thesis examines three topics. The first chapter, entitled "Persistent Effects of Peru's Mining Mita" utilizes regression discontinuity to examine the long-run impacts of the mita, an extensive forced mining labor system in effect in Peru and Bolivia between 1573 and 1812. Results indicate that a mita effect lowers household consumption by around 25% and increases the prevalence of stunted ...

From Local to Global Competition¤

We introduce a framework that has known models of oligopolistic competition with di®erentiated products (the circle, the logit, and the CES) as limit cases. This integrative approach incorporates both localized and global competition, as well as price-sensitive individual demands. It is used to explain the impact of major changes over the last two centuries: reductions in transport costs, incre...

The Weightless Economy in Economic Development

Can the increasing significance of knowledge-products in national income— the growing weightless economy—influence economic development? Those technologies reduce “distance” between consumers and knowledge production. This paper analyzes a model embodying such a reduction. The model shows how demand-side attributes—consumer attitudes on complex goods; training, education, and skills for consump...

The Weightless Economy in Economic Development by

Can the increasing significance of knowledge-products in national income— the growing weightless economy—influence economic development? Those technologies reduce “distance” between consumers and knowledge production. This paper analyzes a model embodying such a reduction. The model shows how demand-side attributes—consumer attitudes on complex goods; training, education, and skills for consump...