This paper analyzes the impact of institutions upon happiness through their intermediary impact upon individual trust. The empirical work is based on Eurobarometer data covering the 15 countries of the EU prior to its expansion in 2004. With respect to trust, we present evidence that, although it is endogenous with respect to the performance of the institution, changes in the individual's personal circumstances can also have an impact, indicating that trust is not simply learned at an early age. Hence unemployed people tend to have lower levels of trust not only in the main economic institutions - government and the Central Bank - but in other state institutions too such as the police and the law. Trust also differs in a systematic manner with respect to education and household income, increases (decreases) in either increase (decrease) trust in most institutions. If we assume that more educated people make better judgments, this suggests that on average people tend to have too little trust in institutions. However, it is also possible that both of these variables impact on the interaction between institutions such as the police and other government agencies and the citizen, with prosperous, well educated people being at an advantage and possibly able to command more respect. Age too impacts on institutional trust. For the UN, the unions, big business, voluntary organizations and the EU, trust first declines and then increases with the estimated turning points ranging between 44 and 56 years. For most other organizations trust significantly increases with age. Turning to subjective well-being, we find the standard set of socio-economic variables to be significant. But the focus here is on the impact of institutional trust. We find that trust (mistrust) in the European Central Bank, the EU, national government, the law and the UN all impact positively (negatively) on well-being. Hence overall our results support the conclusion that happiness does not solely lie within the realm of the individual, but that institutional performance also has a direct impact upon subjective well-being. Copyright 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd..

This paper looks at the growth of multiple-authored papers in eight leading economics journals. In 1950, multiple authorship was a relative rarity. By the 1990s, it had become commonplace. An empirical analysis suggests that this growth has not been even over time but appears to have been greatest in the mid-1960s and again since the mid-1970s. Possible reasons for this growth include developments in computer technology. Its implications for the economics profession are briefly discussed.

The paper examines the effect of aid on poverty, rather than on economic growth. We devise a 'pro-poor (public) expenditure index', and present evidence that, together with inequality and corruption, this is a key determinant of the aid's poverty leverage. After presenting empirical evidence which suggests a positive leverage of aid donors on pro-poor expenditure, we argue for the development of conditionality in a new form, which gives greater flexibility to donors in punishing slippage on previous commitments, and keys aid disbursements to performance in respect of policy variables which governments can influence in a pro-poor direction.

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This paper seeks to analyse tax performance across countries, utilizing what Musgrave (1969) referred to as the stochastic approach, where tax performance is analysed by comparisons with the average performance. The regression approach to tax performance assessment is used and a tax effort index is constructed. Among the variables that are identified to be important determinants of tax shares is a measure of tax evasion. The tax effort indices obtained show that generally the upper middle-income and high-income OECD groups are making better use of their tax bases to increase revenue. There are also economies of scale with respect to population density. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.