A key theoretical and methodological issue for comparative scholars concerns the non-identical nature of actors across different institutional contexts. This paper reviews the relationship between actors and institutions within various strands of institutional theory, showing some emerging...

This Paper presents theory and evidence on the relationship between inequality and institutional quality. We exhibit a model in which the two dynamically reinforce each other and set to test this relationship with a broad array of institutional measures. We establish the double causality between...

This study proposes an analytical framework towards behavioral political economy of institutional change. It considers institutional changes as central government's choices under uncertainty, which are largely driven by the strategic outcomes in a behavioral coordination game between local...

From a theoretical point of view, explaining institutional stability and institutional change has remained a difficult task. The new institutional economics initially identified economic efficiency as the main driver of institutional change. In more recent times, it has been recognized that...

Why do some societies fail to adopt more efficient political and economic institutions in response to changing economic conditions? And why do such conditions sometimes generate conservative ideological backlashes and, at other times, progressive social and political movements? We propose an...