The empirical literature on economic growth and development has moved from the study of proximate determinants to the analysis of ever deeper, more fundamental factors, rooted in long-term history. A growing body of new empirical work focuses on the measurement and estimation of the effects of...

William Easterly's superb book draws on what we have learned from almost two decades of cross-country growth comparisons, providing a critical synthesis of the current state of empirical knowledge on growth. The author emphasizes policy and institution-driven incentives for growth, and also...