NBER Program Report: Political Economy  （综述）
Alberto Alesina*

Diversity
Culture
Institutions, Institutional Change, and Human Capital
Politics and Elections in the United States
Conclusion


Focuses on the interaction between economic policies and outcomes and political institutions broadly defined.  It is by now common for economists to recognize that purely economic forces alone cannot explain complex phenomena such as different degrees of economic development, quality and types of economic policies, income distribution, and quality of government organization such as corruption, protection of property right etc.  Political institutions are important determinants of these economic outcomes. In turn, the state of the economy affects political outcomes, both in the long run and in the short. Economic development affects the evolution of institutions and short run economic conditions affect political change and elections. We will interpret "political institutions" in a broad sense and we will also be interested in related issues such as the role and evolution of legal and administrative institutions, and issues concerning social interactions.  The group focuses both on developed and developing economies and both on "macroeconomic" and "microeconomic" issues including international trade and international relations.