This setting lets you change the way you view articles. You can choose to have articles open in a dialog window, a new tab, or directly in the same window.
Open in Dialog
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
Journal of Economic Perspectives: Vol. 18 No. 3 (Summer 2004)
JEP Volume. 18, Issue 3 | 
Previous ArticleNext Article
Sign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter
Full-text Article (Complimentary)
View Comments on This Article (0) | Login to post a comment
Previous ArticleNext Article
Expand
Quick Tools:
Print Article Summary Email Link to this Article Export CitationSign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter
Explore:
Why the Middle East is Economically Underdeveloped: Historical Mechanisms of Institutional Stagnation
Article Citation
Kuran, Timur. 2004. "Why the Middle East is Economically Underdeveloped: Historical Mechanisms of Institutional Stagnation."
The Journal of Economic Perspectives,
18(3): 71-90.
DOI: 10.1257/0895330042162421
DOI: 10.1257/0895330042162421
Abstract
Although a millennium ago the Middle East was not an economic laggard, by the 18th century it exhibited clear signs of economic backwardness. The reason for this transformation is that certain components of the region's legal infrastructure stagnated as their Western counterparts gave way to the modern economy. Among the institutions that generated evolutionary bottlenecks are the Islamic law of inheritance, which inhibited capital accumulation; the absence in Islamic law of the concept of a corporation and the consequent weaknesses of civil society; and the waqf, which locked vast resources into unproductive organizations for the delivery of social services. All of these obstacles to economic development were largely overcome through radical reforms initiated in the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, traditional Islamic law remains a factor in the Middle East's ongoing economic disappointments. The weakness of the region's private economic sectors and its human capital deficiency stand among the lasting consequences of traditional Islamic law.
Article Full-Text Access
Full-text Article (Complimentary)
Authors
Kuran, Timur
Comments
View Comments on This Article (0) | Login to post a comment
