Political economy.

• Position: Program and Working Group Meetings

The NBER's Political Economy Program, directed by Alberto Alesina of Harvard University, met in Cambridge on October 23. These papers were discussed:

* Oded Galor, Brown University and NBER, and Marc Klemp, Brown University, "Roots of Autocracy"

* Filip Matejka, Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, and Guido Tabellini, Bocconi University, "Electoral Competition with Rationally Inattentive Voters"

* Marianne Bertrand, University of Chicago and NBER; Robin Burgess and Guo Xu, London School of Economics; and Arunish Chawla, Indian Administrative Service, "Determinants and Consequences of Bureaucrat Effectiveness: Evidence from the Indian Administrative Service"

* Alberto Bisin, New York University and NBER, and Thierry Verdier, Paris School of Economics, "On the Joint Evolution of Culture and...