We estimate the respective contributions of institutions, geography, and trade in determining income levels around the … world, using recently developed instruments for institutions and trade. Our results indicate that the quality of … institutions 'trumps' everything else. Once institutions are controlled for, measures of geography have at best weak direct effects …

This paper opens with a discussion of the types of institutions that allow markets to perform adequately. While we can … identify in broad terms what these are, there is no unique mapping between markets and the non-market institutions that … institutions. A range of evidence indicates that participatory democracies enable higher-quality growth. …

the answer may be no is that countries pursuing poor macroeconomic policies also have weak ‘institutions’, including … political institutions that do not constrain politicians and political elites, ineffective enforcement of property rights for … more ‘extractive’ institutions from their colonial past were more likely to experience high volatility and economic crises …

enabled these groups to demand, obtain and sustain changes in institutions to protect their property rights. Furthermore, the … existing institutions placed some checks on the monarchy and particularly limited its control of overseas trading activities … the result of capitalist development driven by the interaction of late medieval institutions and the economic …

This paper aims to show that culture is an important determinant of the effectiveness of formal democratic institutions … elections. These results support the view that social capital complements democratic institutions such as elections. …