NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH

Working Group Meeting on the Political Economy

Alberto Alesina, Organizer

April 30, 2005

NBER

1050 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, Massachusetts

PROGRAM

FRIDAY, APRIL 29:

7:00 pm Dinner

Davio's at the Royal Sonesta Hotel

5 Cambridge Parkway

Cambridge, MA

SATURDAY, APRIL 30:

8:15 am Shuttle van departs Royal Sonesta Hotel for NBER

8:30 am Continental Breakfast

9:00 am RAFAEL DI TELLA, Harvard University

SEBASTIAN GALIANI, Universidad de San Andres, Argentina

ERNESTO SCHARGRODSKY, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Argentina

Property Rights and Beliefs: Evidence from the Allocation of Land Titles to Squatters

Discussant: ESTHER DUFLO, MIT and NBER

10:00 am Coffee Break

10:30 am STEFANO DELLAVIGNA and ETHAN KAPLAN, UC, Berkeley

The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting

Discussant: JESSE SHAPIRO, Harvard University

11:30 am ASIM IJAZ KHWAJA, Harvard University

ATIF MIAN, University of Chicago

Do Lenders Favor Politically Connected Firms?

Rent Provision in an Emerging Financial Market

Discussant: EFRAIM BENMELECH, Harvard University

12:30 pm Lunch

1:30 pm GUIDO TABELLINI, IGIER, Bocconi University

Culture and Institutions: Economic Development in the Regions of Europe

Discussant: ROMAIN WACZIARG, Stanford University and NBER

2:30 pm Coffee Break

3:00 pm ALEXANDER DYCK, University of Toronto

DAVID MOSS, Harvard University

LUIGI ZINGALES, University of Chicago and NBER

Media versus Special Interests

Discussant: ANDREI SHLEIFER, Harvard University and NBER

4:00 pm GENE GROSSMAN, Princeton University

ELHANAN HELPMAN, Harvard University

A Protectionist Bias in Majoritarian Politics

Discussant: ALLAN DRAZEN, University of Maryland and NBER

5:00 pm Adjourn

4/20/05