This literature review covers recent works dealing with the ultimate causes of economic development. The article first considers the driving role of the rules of the social game. Then the focus shifts to the role of historical circumstances. Finally, we seek to understand how geography can influence development paths. These studies are multidisciplinary and use new databases. The results should not imply that there is a cultural, historical or geographical determinism. That is, historical contingencies and economic policy decisions can foster lasting changes in development trajectories.

The paper aims to highlight the impact of youth resentment on violent conflicts in Burkina Faso. This work takes advantage of one of the latest nationwide UNICEF-sponsored surveys conducted in Burkina Faso before some parts of the country became inaccessible because of attacks. Among other information, this survey collected data on youth resentment towards the ability of their household to fulfill their needs. This resentment is closely related to perceived relative deprivation. We merge this survey into an original dataset that gathers data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), mining data from the MINEX project, and distances data computed using Burkina Faso’s roads information. The results of an event count model show that youth resentment explains the occurrence of conflicts. Moreover, the presence of mining companies, the remoteness from infrastructures, ethnic diversity, and polarization also significantly affect violence against civilians.

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We ask whether fiscal rules improve public expenditure efficiency. That is, after computing efficiency scores for a panel of 159 countries of all income levels over the period 1990-2017, we apply the entropy balancing method to assess the effect of fiscal rules on the scores obtained, thus mitigating selection bias. Evidence suggests that implementing a fiscal rule significantly increases expenditure efficiency, with economically significant effects. Robustness was checked using a range of economic and econometric tests. Moreover, we show that our findings are neither driven by a spurious trend, nor by confounding factors, nor are they confounded by the effects of other reforms such as inflation targeting, IMF programs or fiscal consolidation episodes. Finally, further analysis suggests that the effect of fiscal rules on public expenditure efficiency is subject to some heterogeneity, depending on the types of rules, their design, macroeconomic factors as well as time elapsed since the reform adoption.

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