How is population density in 1500 calculated?
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By dividing the population by arable land area.
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How is population density in 1500 calculated?
By dividing the population by arable land area.
What does the WPR index indicate?
The strength of political rights on a scale from 1 to 7.
What does the ESM variable represent?
The estimated mortality rate of European settlers.
What historical context is provided regarding political equality in the New World?
Areas of labor scarcity in the early colonial period saw more political equality, particularly in voting rights.
How can the disease environment of the 18th or 19th century affect current incomes?
It may be correlated with the disease environment in 2000, impacting current incomes directly and through institutions.
What is the mean Log GDP per capita in the larger sample?
8.40
What types of coordination failures do early-stage economies face?
Various kinds of coordination failures that require different mechanisms to overcome.
What alternative aspect of institutions does the paper suggest examining?
Democratic participation rights and institutions addressing coordination failures.
What does the LLCK dummy variable indicate?
Whether a country does not adjoin the sea.
What two types of institutional variables are discussed in the text?
One relates to the rule of law and property rights, and the other relates to democratic political rights.
What is the R² value for the medium sample regarding life expectancy at birth?
0.38.
What is the general impression regarding the rule of law and property rights?
If the rule of law protects property rights, the market will manage much of the rest.
What is the p-value for the F-statistic in the larger sample?
0.000, indicating statistical significance.
What does the relationship between WPR and literacy suggest?
Democratic voice and participation are conducive to mass literacy campaigns.
Why do institutions that adversely affect economic performance persist?
They often persist for long periods due to various factors, including the difficulty in quantifying their effects.
What is a challenge economists face when studying institutions?
It is difficult to quantify the effects of various institutions.
What issue does the paper speculate about regarding institutions in poor countries?
That dysfunctional institutions often persist due to distributive conflicts.
What is the focus of Section 3 in the paper?
The importance of social and political institutions in mitigating coordination failures.
What statistical method is used in the analysis presented in the table?
Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression.
What is the correlation between Life expectancy at birth in 2000 and HDI?
0.94
What does the paper propose regarding the quantification of property rights institutions?
To suggest an alternative instrumental variable for quantifying their effects.
How does literacy relate to political rights in the second stage of the analysis?
Literacy is significantly and negatively associated with the weakness of political rights.
How are institutions interpreted in this paper?
As rules of structured social interaction.
What has been a recent trend in empirical literature regarding institutions?
A focus on cross-country regressions to determine the importance of geographical versus institutional factors.
What institutional variable is significant when literacy level is the dependent variable?
Weakness of political rights (WPR).
What is the correlation between Ethno-linguistic fragmentation (ELF) and Life expectancy at birth in 2000?
-0.65
What is ELF an index of?
Ethnolinguistic fractionalization, measuring ethnic diversity.
What is the relationship between state antiquity and the rule-of-law variable?
There is a highly significant positive association.
What does a positive IV estimate of the institutional variable RULE indicate?
It suggests a positive impact on per capita GDP and life expectancy.
What limitation does the focus on property rights impose on understanding development?
It limits understanding of the roles of other important institutions in the development process.
What do the OLS regression results indicate about the institutional variables?
Both the rule of law and weak political rights are highly significant in explaining variations in per capita income across countries.
What happens to the significance of STATEHIST in the smaller sample of 69 countries?
The significance diminishes.
What challenges arise in orchestrating institutional change?
Collective action problems and distributive conflicts.
What is the mean value of weak political rights in the larger sample?
3.10
What is the correlation between Land-locked (LLCK) and Life expectancy at birth in 2000?
-0.37
What is the R² value for the first stage of endogenous variables in the smaller sample?
0.32.
What does the RULE index assess?
The quality of the rule of law, including crime incidence and judiciary effectiveness.
What technique is used to analyze the relationship between institutions and per capita income?
Instrumental variables (IV) regression.
What has enriched institutional economics of development in the last two decades?
Historical and quantitative analysis of the effects of institutional quality on economic development.
How does Rule of Law (RULE) correlate with HDI?
0.72
How does the R² value change from the larger sample to the smaller sample for HDI?
It decreases from 0.67 to 0.56.
What is the significance of the colonial settler mortality variable?
It is problematic and may not exclude the effects of other variables.
Can democracy be necessary for the security of property rights?
No, durable authoritarian regimes can also provide a secure and predictable environment for private business.
What is the purpose of the paper discussed in the text?
To explore the economic effects of various aspects of institutional quality beyond just property rights.
What issue does Albouy (2004) address regarding the AJR settler mortality measure?
He corrects flaws and shows that the revised data reveals a 'weak instrument' problem in the AJR analysis.
What does the coefficient of ethno-linguistic fragmentation (ELF) indicate for weak political rights (WPR) in the medium sample?
2.35.
What effect did the incongruence of post-colonial states have on African legitimacy?
It had a serious adverse effect on the legitimacy of the state.
What is the main focus of the paper 'Institutions Matter, But Which Ones?' by Pranab Bardhan?
To explore the economic effects of various aspects of institutional quality beyond just individual property rights.
What does the Rule of Law (RULE) positively correlate with in the larger sample?
Log GDP per capita, literacy, life expectancy at birth, and HDI.
What variables are associated with weak political rights in the first-stage regression?
Ethno-linguistic fragmentation and population density in 1500.
What does the study suggest about the relationship between democratic institutions and human development?
Some aspects of human development may be advanced by the progress of democratic institutions, alongside the establishment of property rights protection.
Why might institutional quality today be considered endogenous with respect to income?
Good institutions are more likely to survive in more affluent countries.
What historical context does Olsson (2005) provide regarding early colonies in Latin America?
They were run by Europeans at a time when property rights institutions were not fully established even in their home countries.
What correlation exists between European settler mortality (ESM) and HDI?
-0.72
What do Przeworski and Limongi argue about democracy and property rights?
They argue that the idea that democracy protects property rights is a recent and far-fetched invention.
What is the mean state antiquity in the medium sample?
0.34
Which countries are mentioned as examples that escaped colonization?
China, Thailand, and Ethiopia.
What is the relationship between population density and political rights according to the text?
Countries with historically high population density tend to have weaker political rights.
What is the advantage of using the state antiquity index over the settler mortality variable?
The sample size can be much larger, as information on the state antiquity index is available for more countries.
What is a deeper factor that affects settlement patterns?
Density of population.
How does ethno-linguistic fragmentation affect the rule of law?
It has a highly significant negative association with it.
What does a higher F-statistic indicate in the context of this regression analysis?
A significant relationship between the dependent and independent variables.
What is the correlation between Weak political rights (WPR) and Log GDP per capita?
-0.46
What is the maximum life expectancy at birth in the larger sample?
81.00
What are some mechanisms that can help overcome coordination failures?
The state, the market, and community organizations.
What is the relationship between weak political rights (WPR) and rule of law (RULE)?
There is a significant negative correlation (-0.65).
How does the state antiquity index differ among developing countries?
It is much lower for sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America than for Asia.
What alternative instrumental variable is introduced in the study of property rights?
State antiquity.
What additional institutional variable is used alongside property rights?
Democratic participation rights.
What is the correlation between Log GDP per capita and Literacy in 2000?
0.74
What data sources are used for GDP per capita and HDI?
Penn World Tables and UNDP Human Development Report 2002.
Why is the proxy for democratic political rights significant?
It is a more significant determinant when literacy is the dependent variable and influences other elements of the composite human development index.
What are some general problems with cross-country regression studies mentioned in the text?
Dubious quality of data, omitted variable bias, and lack of insights into mechanisms through which institutions affect development.
What may be at the root of many institutional failures in poor countries?
Distributive conflicts regarding political and economic power.
How did AJR (2001) attempt to address the endogeneity problem of institutions and income?
By using mortality rates of colonial settlers as an instrument for institutional quality.
What is the mean value of European settler mortality in the smaller sample?
4.67
What is the effect of weak political rights (WPR) on GDP per capita in the larger sample?
It has a negative correlation.
What does Section 4 analyze?
The role of unequal property regimes and resultant distributive conflicts.
Who is a key figure in the literature on the importance of secure property rights?
Douglass North.
What does the state antiquity variable suggest about democratic rights?
Countries with a long history of entrenched bureaucratic-military setups may not be hospitable to democratic rights.
What is the standard deviation of literacy in the larger sample?
21.46
What is a potential issue with the institutional variables discussed?
Both rule of law and weak political rights are endogenous and may be simultaneously affected.
What is the minimum value of Rule of Law in the smaller sample?
-1.49
How does Population density in 1500 (DENS) correlate with Ethno-linguistic fragmentation (ELF)?
-0.14
What did Bockstette, Chanda, and Putterman (2002) compute regarding state antiquity?
An index of state antiquity for a large number of countries.
What argument does Herbst (2000) make about land rights in pre-colonial Africa?
Land rights were not well-defined, leading to vague political entities that did not invest in bureaucracies.
What flaw does Przeworski (2004) point out regarding the use of historical facts as instruments for current institutions?
Institutions change over time, making old historical facts potentially invalid as instruments for current institutions.
What is the significance of the literature by Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson?
It is widely cited and influential in understanding institutional impacts on economic performance.
What is the dependent variable in the 2SLS regression for the larger sample?
Log GDP per capita, Literacy 2000, Life expectancy at birth 2000, HDI.
What is the mean HDI in the medium sample?
6.31
What approach may be necessary in the absence of detailed data across countries?
General qualitative comparative-historical analysis of the development process.
What factor did AJR (2001) suggest influenced the type of institutions established by European settlers?
Mortality rates among early European settlers, related to geography and disease patterns.
What is the mean population density in 1500 in the smaller sample?
5.36
What does the coefficient of Rule of Law (RULE) indicate for life expectancy at birth in the larger sample?
10.24.
What is the correlation between State antiquity (STATEHIST) and Weak political rights (WPR)?
0.23
What is the significance level of the coefficient for State antiquity (STATEHIST) in the larger sample?
Significant at the 0.35 level.
What is the maximum value of ethno-linguistic fragmentation in the larger sample?
0.86
What is a common issue in recent cross-country regression studies regarding institutions?
They often focus on finding clever instruments rather than ensuring they provide adequate causal explanations.
What is the R² value for the medium sample's literacy dependent variable?
0.35.
What trade-off does North identify in the historical growth process?
The trade-off between economies-of-scale and specialization versus transaction costs.
What is a concern regarding the colonial settler mortality variable as an instrument?
It may not capture the major historical forces impacting the social and economic institutional structure of ex-colonies.
What correlation exists between rule of law (RULE) and GDP per capita?
There is a strong positive correlation (0.82).
What does the coefficient of weak political rights (WPR) indicate for HDI in the smaller sample?
2.48.
What is the F-statistic for the first stage of endogenous variables in the larger sample?
14.51.
What issue did many African countries face regarding state structure during colonial times?
They were artificially regrouped by colonial rulers, leading to incongruence with pre-colonial political structures.
What does the STATEHIST index measure?
The antiquity of a state based on government duration, local governance, and territorial control.
