American Economic Association Nashville, Tennessee 0022-0515 Journal of Economic Literature 37 1 March 1999 763 The Provision of Incentives in Firms CanicePrendergast This paper provides an overview of the existing theoretical and empirical work on the provision of incentives. It reviews the costs and benefits of many types of pay-for-performance, such as piece rates, promotions, and long-term incentives. The main conclusions are (i) while there is considerable evidence that individuals respond to pay-for-performance, there is less evidence that contracts are designed as predicted by the theory, (ii) there has been little progress made in distinguishing amongst plausible theories, and (iii) we still know little about how incentives are provided to workers whose output is difficult to measure. http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/contents/March1999.html American Economic Association Nashville, Tennessee 0022-0515 Journal of Economic Literature 37 1 March 1999 64111 Explaining African Economic Performance PaulCollierJan WillemGunning Africa has had slow growth and a massive exodus of capital. In many respects it has been the most capital-hostile region. We review and interpret the aggregate-level and microeconomic literatures to identify the key explanations for this performance. There is a reasonable correspondence of the two sets of evidence, pointing to four factors as being important. These are a lack of openness to international trade; a high-risk environment; a low level of social capital; and poor infrastructure. These problems are to a substantial extent attributable to government behavior, and the paper includes a review of the political economy literature addressing that behavior. http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/contents/March1999.html American Economic Association Nashville, Tennessee 0022-0515 Journal of Economic Literature 37 1 March 1999 112156 The New Growth Evidence JonathanTemple Why do growth rates differ? This paper surveys the recent empirical literature on economic growth, starting with a discussion of stylized facts, data problems, and statistical methods. Six research questions are emphasized, drawing on growth and convergence research. In answering these questions, the paper argues that efficiency has grown at different rates across countries, casting doubt on neoclassical models in which technology is a public good. The latter half of the paper rounds up a variety of findings before providing answers to all six questions, including a short summary of how differences in growth rates arise. http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/contents/March1999.html American Economic Association Nashville, Tennessee 0022-0515 Journal of Economic Literature 37 1 March 1999 157183 The Young Person's Guide to Writing Economic Theory WilliamThomson I formulate recommendations to young authors for writing economic theory well. I state general principles of good writing, and emphasize the role of the different components of a paper and the importance of the structure of one's work being clear. I explain how to choose notation and language, and how to present and illustrate proofs. http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/contents/March1999.html