The Restructuring in the Post-Crisis Korean Economy

The current paper evaluates the restructuring measures implemented in the post-crisis Korean economy. Its policies taken after the economic crisis were quite successful in terms of economic recovery. The financial and corporate sector reforms undertaken by the Korean government contributed to strengthening the banking and corporate sectors, attracting FDI inflows. However, most indicators show worsening of income inequalities and workers. situation regarding job security. The strengths as well as the weaknesses of the development strategy of Korea and its reform measures undertaken since the occurrence of the economic crisis need to be differentiated.

The Political Economy of Constitutional Choice: A Study of the 2005 Kenyan Constitutional Referendum

Recent studies of the linkages between the wealth of nations and the institutions of governance suggest that concentrating political power in a monarchy or a ruling coalition impedes economic growth and, moreover, that while power-diffusing reforms can enhance the wellbeing of society in general, opposition by groups benefitting from the status quo is predictable. In November 2005, Kenyans rejected a proposed constitution that, despite promises made by their new chief executive, would not have lessened the powers of the presidency. Using a unique, constituency-level dataset on the referendum vote, we estimate a model of the demand for power diffusion and find that ethnic groups' voting decisions are influenced by their expected gains and losses from constitutional change. The results also highlights the importance of ethnic divisions in hindering the power-diffusion process, and thus establish a channel through which ethnic fragmentation adversely impacts economic development.

Economic Growth, Longevity, and the Epidemiological Transition

This paper integrates investments in health to a standard growth model where physical and human capital investments are the combined engines of growth. It shows the existence of two distinct health regimes separated by an 'Epidemiological Transition'. The various patterns of the transition identified in the epidemiological literature can be mapped into the model. The model also leads to the important hypothesis that the epidemiological transition may induce an economy to switch to a modern growth regime.