This book focuses on the role of economic and political institutions in economic development. The book offers fresh perspectives on the issues facing less-developed countries and the elements influencing their outcomes. The text includes chapters on democracy, property rights, and economic freedom, and uses diverse methodology such as case studies, spacial econometrics, and cross-country analysis. The volume features the work of prominent scholars in the area of institutional analysis such as Mohammed Akacem, Christopher Coyne, and Andrew Young as well as a number of junior scholars. This book will be useful for researchers and students interested in economic development and institutional analysis in general, in addition to individuals with a specific focus on countries or regions such as Iraq or sub-Saharan Africa.

This volume contains a collection of papers by economists which examine the various strategies for cutting costs and improving productivity in higher education in the United States. The dramatic increase in the cost of attending most colleges and universities in recent years has led to increasing concerns regarding college affordability. In addition, with nearly 35 percent of full-time college students failing to receive a bachelor's degree within six years of enrolling in an institution of higher education, the productivity of colleges and universities has also been called into question. Systematic reform of higher education has intensified as a result of the large amount of public and private dollars flowing into it. The chapters in this volume, while recognizing it may be the primary source of the problem, also understand that the political forces behind the subsidization of higher education are unlikely to wane. The contributors examine several areas of possible reform from an economic perspective, including financial aid systems, athletics, and the organization of universities and university systems with an emphasis on identifying the types of reforms that are most likely to result in improvements as well as those that may make things worse. This volume will be of interest to economists, education researchers and policymakers concerned with education reform.

This volume contains a collection of papers by economists which examine the various strategies for cutting costs and improving productivity in higher education in the United States. The dramatic increase in the cost of attending most colleges and universities in recent years has led to increasing concerns regarding college affordability. In addition, with nearly 35 percent of full-time college students failing to receive a bachelor's degree within six years of enrolling in an institution of higher education, the productivity of colleges and universities has also been called into question. Systematic reform of higher education has intensified as a result of the large amount of public and private dollars flowing into it. The chapters in this volume, while recognizing it may be the primary source of the problem, also understand that the political forces behind the subsidization of higher education are unlikely to wane. The contributors examine several areas of possible reform from an economic perspective, including financial aid systems, athletics, and the organization of universities and university systems with an emphasis on identifying the types of reforms that are most likely to result in improvements as well as those that may make things worse. This volume will be of interest to economists, education researchers and policymakers concerned with education reform.

The Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index has annually provided a measure of the consistency of a nation's policies and institutions with economic freedom. With data going back to 1970 and coverage of over 100 countries, the EFW index has become an important tool for scholars studying a wide range of economic and social outcomes around the world. This book highlights contributions made to this literature that were published originally in one of the most important journals in this field, the Journal of Private Enterprise, bringing together a wide variety of studies on the role of economic freedom on economic growth, income equality, political freedom and other social goals.