Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T04:46:39.075Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Institutions, diseases, and economic progress: a unified framework

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2009

SAMBIT BHATTACHARYYA
SAMBIT BHATTACHARYYA*
Affiliation:
Arndt-Corden Division of Economics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
*
*Email: sambit.bhattacharyya@anu.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The sharp division between the ‘institutions view’ and the ‘disease view’ has been one of the distinctive features of the ‘root causes of economic progress’ literature. Based on evidence from cross-national data, the ‘institutions school’ claims that institutions are the only root cause of development, whereas the ‘disease school’ claims that diseases are also equally important. In this paper, I contribute to this literature by proposing a unified structure to marry the two conflicting views. I argue that overcoming diseases are of prime importance at an early stage of economic development, whereas institutions are more important at a later stage. I find support for this hypothesis in the development history literature on Africa, India, China and the Americas.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , April 2009 , pp. 65 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © The JOIE Foundation 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acemoglu, D. and Robinson, J. (2000), ‘Why Did the West Extend the Franchise? Democracy, Inequality and Growth in Historical Perspective’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115: 1167–1199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D. and Johnson, S. (2005), ‘Unbundling Institutions’, Journal of Political Economy, 113: 949–995.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D. and Johnson, S. (2008), ‘Diseases and Development: The Effect of Life Expectancy on Economic Growth’, Journal of Political Economy, forthcoming.Google Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., and Robinson, J. (2001), ‘The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation’, American Economic Review, 91: 1369–1401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., and Robinson, J. (2002), ‘Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117: 1231–1294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., and Robinson, J. (2003a), ‘Disease and Development in Historical Perspective’, Journal of the European Economic Association, 1: 397–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., Robinson, J., and Thaicharoen, Y. (2003b), ‘Institutional Causes, Macroeconomic Symptoms: Volatility, Crises and Growth’, Journal of Monetary Economics, 50: 49–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., and Robinson, J. (2005a), ‘Institutions as the Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth’, Handbook of Economic Growth, 1: 385–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., and Robinson, J. (2005b), ‘The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change and Economic Growth’, American Economic Review, 95: 546–579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., Robinson, J., and Yared, P. (2007), ‘Reevaluating the Mordernization Hypothesis’, NBER Working Paper No. 13334, August.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banerjee, A. and Iyer, L. (2005), ‘History, Institutions, and Economic Performance: The Legacy of Colonial Land Tenure Systems in India’, American Economic Review, 95: 1190–1213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beaud, M. (2000), A History of Capitalism: 1500–2000, New York: Monthly Review Press.Google Scholar
Bhattacharyya, S. (2006), ‘Theory and Empirics of Root Causes of Economic Progress’, Ph.D. thesis, School of Economics, The Australian National University.Google Scholar
Bhattacharyya, S. (2007), ‘Root Causes of African Underdevelopment’, mimeo, The Australian National University.Google Scholar
Bhattacharyya, S. (2008), ‘Unbundled Institutions, Human Capital and Growth’, Journal of Comparative Economics, forthcoming.Google Scholar
Bloom, D. and Sachs, J. (1998), ‘Geography, Demography, and Economic Growth in Africa’, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2: 207–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carstensen, K. and Gundlach, E. (2006), ‘The Primacy of Institutions Reconsidered: Direct Income Effects of Malaria Prevalence’, World Bank Economic Review, 20: 309–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chakraborty, S., Papageorgiou, C., and Perez-Sebastian, F. (2005), ‘Diseases and Development’, Department of Economics Working Paper No. 12, Louisiana State University.Google Scholar
Diamond, J. (1997), Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies, New York: W. W. Norton & Co.Google Scholar
Djankov, S., LaPorta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., and Shleifer, A. (2003), ‘Courts’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118: 453–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutt, A. (1992), ‘The Origins of Uneven Development: The Indian Subcontinent’, American Economic Review, 82: 146–150.Google Scholar
Easterly, W. and Levine, R. (2003), ‘Tropics, Germs, and Crops: How Endowments Influence Economic Development’, Journal of Monetary Economics, 50: 3–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebrey, P. (1999), The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ebrey, P., Walthall, A., and Palais, J. (2006), East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Engerman, S. and Sokoloff, K. (2001), ‘Inequality, Institutions, and Differential Paths of Growth Among New World Economies’, Working Paper, University of California, Los Angeles.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallup, J. and Sachs, J. (2001), ‘The Economic Burden of Malaria’, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 64: 85–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallup, J., Sachs, J., and Mellinger, A. (1998), ‘Geography and Economic Development’, NBER Working Paper No. w6849, December.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glaeser, E., LaPorta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., and Shleifer, A. (2004), ‘Do Institutions Cause Growth?’, Journal of Economic Growth, 9: 271–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, R. and Jones, C. (1999), ‘Why Do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker Than Others?’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114: 83–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodgson, G. (2006), ‘What are Institutions?’, Journal of Economic Issues, 40: 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inikori, J. (1992), ‘The Chaining of a Continent: Export Demand for Captives and the History of Africa South of the Sahara, 1450–1870’, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.Google Scholar
Knack, S. and Keefer, P. (1995), ‘Institutions and Economic Performance: Cross-Country Tests using Alternative Institutional Measures’, Economics and Politics, 7: 207–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landes, D. (1998), The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor, London: Abacus.Google Scholar
LaPorta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., and Vishny, R. (1999), ‘The Quality of Government’, Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, V15: 222–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipset, S. (1959), ‘Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy’, American Political Science Review, 53: 69–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorentzen, P., McMillan, J., and Wacziarg, R. (2008), ‘Death and Development’, Journal of Economic Growth, forthcoming.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovejoy, P. (1982), ‘The Volume of the Atlantic Slave Trade: A Synthesis’, Journal of African History, 23: 473–501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, J. (1982), ‘The Significance of Drought, Disease and Famine in the Agriculturally Marginal Zones of West Central Africa’, Journal of African History, 23: 17–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mokyr, J. (1990), The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Change, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mokyr, J. (2001), ‘The Rise and Fall of the Factory System: Technology, Firms, and Household since the Industrial Revolution’, Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, 55: 1–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, B. (1966), Injustice: The Social Bases of Obedience and Revolt, White Plains: New York.Google Scholar
North, D. (1981), Structure and Change in Economic History, New York: Norton.Google Scholar
North, D. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nunn, N. (2007), ‘Historical Legacies: A Model Linking Africa's Past to its Current Underdevelopment’, Journal of Development Economics, 83: 157–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robbins, H. (1928), ‘A Comparison of the Effects of the Black Death on the Economic Organization of France and England’, Journal of Political Economy, 36: 447–479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, J. (2006), ‘Equity, Institutions and the Development Process’, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, 32: 17–50.Google Scholar
Rodrik, D., Subramanian, A., and Trebbi, F. (2004), ‘Institutions Rule: the Primacy of Institutions over Geography and Integration in Economic Development’, Journal of Economic Growth, 9: 131–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sachs, J. (2003), ‘Institutions Don't Rule: Direct Effects of Geography on Per Capita Income’, NBER Working Paper No.w9490, February.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thelen, K. (1999), ‘Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics’, American Review of Political Science, 2: 369–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thelen, K. (2000), ‘Timing and Temporality in the Analysis of Institutional Evolution and Change’, Studies in American Political Development, 14: 101–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar