Francisco Rodríguez C.

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I currently teach Economics at the University of Maryland.  My research is in the areas of economic growth and political economy. Some current research questions are:

Political Economy

• Why do some countries spend more on human capital accumulation and have larger welfare states than others? For an answer, see Inequality, Redistribution and Rent-Seeking. For some empirical evidence, see Does Inequality Lead to Redistribution? Evidence from the United States .(Economics & Politics, 11(2), July 1999)
• How can we account for the vast cross-country differences in human capital accumulation?  See The Political Economy of Human Capital Accumulation (joint with José Pineda).

Economic Growth

• What is the effect of trade openness on economic growth? I say there is none. For the evidence, read Trade Policy and Economic Growth: A Skeptic’s Guide to the Cross-National Evidence (joint with Dani Rodrik). (forthcoming, NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2000).  See also a review by The Economist.
• Why do economies rich in natural resources and oil have such poor economic performance records? A new answer to this age-old question is in Why Do Resource-Rich Economies Have Slower Growth Rates? A New Explanation and an Application to Venezuela (joint with Jeffrey Sachs). (Journal of Economic Growth 4(3), September 1999)
• A reexamination of Mankiw, Romer and Weil's rejection of the Solow model with newer data on capital shares: Comment on Mankiw, Romer and Weil (joint with José Pineda).
• A survey paper on The Political Economy of Latin American Economic Growth.

Inequality

• What is the relationship between information technology and inequality?  Read all about it in the survey paper Does Information Technology Raise Inequality?
• Are Poor Countries Losing the Information Revolution?  Yes.  For a longer answer, read the paper.
• Why has Venezuela's Gini coefficient skyrocketed? Factor Shares and Resource Booms: Understanding the Determinants of Venezuelan Inequality  proposes an explanation.

Venezuela

• Is the Bolívar overvalued? Read a report prepared for Venezuela’s Central Bank in February 2000.

Still to come...

• Open, market friendlier regimes have lower levels of corruption.  Right?  Joint with Eduardo Zambrano (Notre Dame).
• Why is the skill premium increasing across the world?  A panel data approach .  Joint with Mike Pries (Maryland).
• Resource Abundant economies are authoritarian.  Joint with Leonard Watchenkon (Yale)

Data Sets and Computer Codes

• Data Set for Trade Policy and Economic Growth: A Skeptic’s Guide to the Cross-National Evidence (joint with Dani Rodrik.)
• GAMS Program for Why Do Resource-Rich Economies Have Slower Growth Rates? A New Explanation and an Application to Venezuela (joint with Jeffrey Sachs)

Also of interest:

-My Curriculum Vitae

- Reading lists for my courses:

Economics 440: International Economics (Undergraduate)

Economics 755: Theory of Public Choice I: Growth, Distribution and Politics

Reading List

Lecture Notes

Problem Set 1

Solutions to Problem Set 1

Problem Set 2

Problem Set 3

Data Set for Problem Set 3

Problem Set 4