We provide a model of self-selection by candidates in a probabilistic voting environment to
shed light on the forces shaping the quality of politicians from both the supply and demand …

In order to address classic questions about democratic representation in countries with
winner-take-all electoral districts, it is necessary to understand the distribution of political …

We study the effect of constraints on chiefs' power on economic outcomes, citizens' attitudes,
and social capital. A paramount chief in Sierra Leone must come from a ruling family …

What is good government? Why do some governments fail? How do you implement political
accountability in practice? What incentives do you need to put in place to ensure that …

Do lobbyists provide issue-specific information to members of Congress? Or do they provide
special interests access to politicians? We present evidence to assess the role of issue …

We analyse the causal impact of competition on managerial quality and hospital
performance. To address the endogeneity of market structure we analyse the English public …

Preferential trading arrangements (PTAs) play an increasingly prominent role in the global
political economy, two notable examples being the European Union and the North American …

Is electoral competition good for political selection? To address this issue, we introduce a
theoretical model where ideological parties select and allocate high-valence (experts) and …

We empirically study the effects of broadband internet diffusion on local election outcomes
and on local government policies using rich data from the UK Our analysis shows that the …

We analyze the effects of the introduction of gender quotas in candidate lists on the quality of
elected politicians, as measured by the average number of years of education. We consider …