Political Economy.

• Position: Program and Working Group Meetings - Discussion - Brief article

The NBER's Program on Political Economy, directed by Alberto Alesina of Harvard University, met in Cambridge on November 11, 2011. These papers were discussed:

* Quamrul Ashraf, Brown University, and Oded Galor, Brown University and NBER, "Cultural Diversity, Geographical Isolation, and the Origin of the Wealth of Nations"

* Ernesto Dal Bo and Frederico Finan, University of California, Berkeley and NBER, and Martin Rossi, University of California, Berkeley, "Strengthening the State Capabilities: the Role of Financial Incentives in the Call for Public Service"

* Geoffrey Tate and Liu Yang, University of California at Los Angeles, "Female Leadership and Gender Equity: Evidence from Plant Closure"

* Christian Dippel, University of California, Los Angeles, "Forced Coexistence and...