Institutions are now widely believed to be important in explaining performance. In this paper, we analyze whether … commonly used measures of institutions have any significant, measurable impact on performance, whether of countries or firms …. We look at three 'levels' of institutions and associated conjectures. The first concerns whether the political system …

economic development. If the sociopolitical, legal and economic transformations in the Anglo-Saxon world in the last three … identification, they too narrowly defined what Northian institutions entail. As a matter of fact, political, legal and economic … institutions are highly malleable even in advanced economies, while sustained economic growth could well be deep rooted in …

institutions) are more important determinants of these reforms than economic crises. This finding is robust to the inclusion of …

innovation in an individualist culture. This cultural effect may offset the negative effects of bad institutions on growth … robust even after controlling for the effect of institutions and other factors. We also provide evidence of a two-way causal … effect between culture and institutions. …

-country differences in key economic outcomes, such as productivity or output per capita, to differences in policies and institutions that …

understand this remarkable variation, we find that the measurement of reform and controlling for institutions and initial …