Mircea Popa
Biographic Data
| ID | 4375360 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mircea Popa |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mircea |
| FAMILY NAME | Popa |
| SIGNATURE | POPA M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bristol |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2961-7250 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 8 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Modelling policy action using natural language processing
Analyzing policymaking using archival evidence is common in qualitative studies, but doing so using text-as-data methods is challenging because commonly used techniques favor the identification of policy areas rather than actions. This article employs natural language processing to evaluate how UK governments describe their actions, using the full sample of official (command) papers they produced between 1974 and 2023. The methodology relies on i…
Quantifying economic policy
The evolution of economic policy in Western countries in the post‐1980 era is subject to extensive academic debate, but statistical modelling of its many qualitative aspects can be challenging. I use two sources of textual data from the United Kingdom – policy documents written by executive departments, as well as recently declassified cabinet minutes – together with unsupervised text‐as‐data methods to examine the evolution of economic policy di…
Imperial Rule and Long-Run Development
This study examines the effects of Ottoman imperial rule on long-run development in Europe. Using a novel geographical dataset that tracks territorial changes at the sub-national level over 600 years, we identify a negative effect of Ottoman rule on modern economic performance. Contemporary survey data provides strong support for a causal mechanism involving reduced human capital accumulation. This insight is confirmed by a regression discontinui…
Political Machines and the Institutional Background of Economic Miracles
Some of the world's most notable economic miracles were accompanied by corruption, rent-seeking and clientelism, which is puzzling given the wide agreement on the importance of good institutions for growth. This article builds on the experiences of the US, Japan, Italy, South Korea and China to argue that these institutional maladies can be the natural outcomes of governance structures that facilitate growth. The theoretical argument revolves aro…
Inheritance, urbanization, and political change in Europe
Urbanization and the development of middle and working classes have been proposed as a key explanation for political change in the Western world. This article argues that the traditional inheritance systems practiced across Europe have played an important role in the differential development of these urban classes in the period 1700–1900. Inheritance systems that practice some degree of inequality between heirs will lead to more children, general…
What do good governments actually do
This article looks at what good and bad governments do when performing one of their most central functions, namely public procurement. Some 1.5 million public contracts from across Europe are analyzed through statistical models that compare contracting patterns between good- and poor-governance regions. At the most basic level, the results can be interpreted as a rejection of a conventional view of the relation between governance and institutiona…
Elites and Corruption
Eighteenth-century Britain displayed patterns of corruption similar to those of developing countries today. Reforms enacted in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries eliminated many of these patterns. This article develops a theoretical argument that seeks to explain why the British elite enacted anticorruption reforms and provides evidence using a new data set of members of the House of Commons. The author argues that the shock that …
The Distributive Effects of Corruption
This article puts forward an explanation of the resilience of corruption by arguing that this phenomenon offers net gains to a much larger share of the population than just corrupt government officials. Corruption is modeled as a solution to an allocation problem for a generic government goodG. The defining features of this solution are the existence of a market forGwhen it is not supposed to exist, and the fact that, in that market, contracts ca…
What do good governments actually do
This article looks at what good and bad governments do when performing one of their most central functions, namely public procurement. Some 1.5 million public contracts from across Europe are analyzed through statistical models that compare contracting patterns between good- and poor-governance regions. At the most basic level, the results can be interpreted as a rejection of a conventional view of the relation between governance and institutiona…
Elites and Corruption
Eighteenth-century Britain displayed patterns of corruption similar to those of developing countries today. Reforms enacted in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries eliminated many of these patterns. This article develops a theoretical argument that seeks to explain why the British elite enacted anticorruption reforms and provides evidence using a new data set of members of the House of Commons. The author argues that the shock that …
Imperial Rule and Long-Run Development
This study examines the effects of Ottoman imperial rule on long-run development in Europe. Using a novel geographical dataset that tracks territorial changes at the sub-national level over 600 years, we identify a negative effect of Ottoman rule on modern economic performance. Contemporary survey data provides strong support for a causal mechanism involving reduced human capital accumulation. This insight is confirmed by a regression discontinui…
Quantifying economic policy
The evolution of economic policy in Western countries in the post‐1980 era is subject to extensive academic debate, but statistical modelling of its many qualitative aspects can be challenging. I use two sources of textual data from the United Kingdom – policy documents written by executive departments, as well as recently declassified cabinet minutes – together with unsupervised text‐as‐data methods to examine the evolution of economic policy di…
Political Machines and the Institutional Background of Economic Miracles
Some of the world's most notable economic miracles were accompanied by corruption, rent-seeking and clientelism, which is puzzling given the wide agreement on the importance of good institutions for growth. This article builds on the experiences of the US, Japan, Italy, South Korea and China to argue that these institutional maladies can be the natural outcomes of governance structures that facilitate growth. The theoretical argument revolves aro…
The Distributive Effects of Corruption
This article puts forward an explanation of the resilience of corruption by arguing that this phenomenon offers net gains to a much larger share of the population than just corrupt government officials. Corruption is modeled as a solution to an allocation problem for a generic government goodG. The defining features of this solution are the existence of a market forGwhen it is not supposed to exist, and the fact that, in that market, contracts ca…
Elites and Corruption
Eighteenth-century Britain displayed patterns of corruption similar to those of developing countries today. Reforms enacted in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries eliminated many of these patterns. This article develops a theoretical argument that seeks to explain why the British elite enacted anticorruption reforms and provides evidence using a new data set of members of the House of Commons. The author argues that the shock that …
What do good governments actually do
This article looks at what good and bad governments do when performing one of their most central functions, namely public procurement. Some 1.5 million public contracts from across Europe are analyzed through statistical models that compare contracting patterns between good- and poor-governance regions. At the most basic level, the results can be interpreted as a rejection of a conventional view of the relation between governance and institutiona…
Inheritance, urbanization, and political change in Europe
Urbanization and the development of middle and working classes have been proposed as a key explanation for political change in the Western world. This article argues that the traditional inheritance systems practiced across Europe have played an important role in the differential development of these urban classes in the period 1700–1900. Inheritance systems that practice some degree of inequality between heirs will lead to more children, general…
Political Machines and the Institutional Background of Economic Miracles
Some of the world's most notable economic miracles were accompanied by corruption, rent-seeking and clientelism, which is puzzling given the wide agreement on the importance of good institutions for growth. This article builds on the experiences of the US, Japan, Italy, South Korea and China to argue that these institutional maladies can be the natural outcomes of governance structures that facilitate growth. The theoretical argument revolves aro…
Imperial Rule and Long-Run Development
This study examines the effects of Ottoman imperial rule on long-run development in Europe. Using a novel geographical dataset that tracks territorial changes at the sub-national level over 600 years, we identify a negative effect of Ottoman rule on modern economic performance. Contemporary survey data provides strong support for a causal mechanism involving reduced human capital accumulation. This insight is confirmed by a regression discontinui…
Quantifying economic policy
The evolution of economic policy in Western countries in the post‐1980 era is subject to extensive academic debate, but statistical modelling of its many qualitative aspects can be challenging. I use two sources of textual data from the United Kingdom – policy documents written by executive departments, as well as recently declassified cabinet minutes – together with unsupervised text‐as‐data methods to examine the evolution of economic policy di…
Modelling policy action using natural language processing
Analyzing policymaking using archival evidence is common in qualitative studies, but doing so using text-as-data methods is challenging because commonly used techniques favor the identification of policy areas rather than actions. This article employs natural language processing to evaluate how UK governments describe their actions, using the full sample of official (command) papers they produced between 1974 and 2023. The methodology relies on i…
Economics (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Law (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies (5 works) · Corruption and Economic Development (4 works) · History (4 works) · Politics (4 works) · Historical Economic and Social Studies (3 works) · History (3 works)