Chang (2011) raises doubts about the effects of institutions on economic development and questions the positive effects of entirely free markets based on secure private property rights. We respond by stressing that institutions structure the incentives underlying individual action, secure...

This paper explores the problem of credible commitment that public officials face with regard to institutional reform. Doug North points out that while economies grow as a result of the provision of governance, I argue that creating an entity with a geographic monopoly simultaneously limits the...

Elinor Ostrom (1933–2012) influenced fields ranging from institutional analysis to metropolitan service delivery, from federalism and theories of polycentric orders to common-pool resource management and sustainable development. Her seminal book, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of...

Book reviewers know that it is a challenge to review a collection of 12 separately-authored essays. Here, we have been asked to read and comment briefly on the character of the 62 dense, technical articles in the six 2002 issues of the Journal of Development Economics (vols. 67, 68, and 69)....

John Searle has argued against the viability f strong versions of artificial intelligence. His most well-known counter-example is the Chinese Room thought experiment where he stressed that syntax is not semantics. We reason by analogy to highlight previously unnoticed similarities between Searle...

The debate over immigration has been a central part of America’s political, social, and economic history. Concerns over the impact of immigration on American identity can be traced back to the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson worried that immigrants from monarchies would fail to support a...

In 1989, most economists thought the problem of transition was one of allowing prices to float to market clearing levels. After all one of the most observable problems throughout the former socialist economies was the existence of pervasive shortages. Indeed prices did need to be freed up. But...

This paper documents and articulates Murray N. Rothbard’s contribution to our understanding of the theory and practice of socialism. We summarize his theoretical contributions and then turn to his explanation of the operation of socialism in the Soviet Union. Moreover, we make and support the...

The Russian economic system has been a state of continual turmoil and reform for over a century, making it difficult for business to develop as the political, legal, and economic foundation continually shifts. The beginning of the 20th century saw Russia struggling to change its economic system...