Are communists good at running businesses?

The most popular articles being shared in our network this week.

Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development. In a classic article from 1993, Mancur Olson outlines the logic of state formation. Under anarchy, there is little incentive to produce due to the threat of plunder from “roving bandits”. But if a “stationary bandit” can establish a monopoly on violence, he may take part of his subjects’ income as tax, leaving the incentive to produce intact.  

Does alleviating poverty increase cognitive performance? Short- and long-term evidence from a randomized controlled trial. Barnabas Szaszi and colleagues report findings from an RCT in which low-income Liberians received an unconditional cash transfer equivalent to 300% of their monthly income. They note that the effect on cognitive performance after one year was substantially smaller than suggested by previous, non-randomised studies. 

There is huge overlap between the cognitive performance of treatment and control groups, both after 2–5 weeks and after 12–13 months.

No Revenge for Nerds? Evaluating the Careers of Ivy League Athletes. Natee Amornsiripanitch and colleagues examine the career outcomes Ivy League athletes. They find that, compared to their non-athlete classmates, athletes are more likely to get an MBA degree, attain more senior positions in the organisations they join and earn more money over the course of their careers.