Institutions, Factor Endowments, and Paths of Development in the New World

Sokoloff, Kenneth L.; Engerman, Stanley L.

doi:10.1257/jep.14.3.217

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

Journal of Economic Perspectives: Vol. 14 No. 3 (Summer 2000)

JEP Volume. 14, Issue 3 | left

Previous Article Next Article right

Expand

Quick Tools:

Print Article Summary Email Link to this Article Export Citation
Sign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter

Explore:

JEP - All Issues

Institutions, Factor Endowments, and Paths of Development in the New World

Article Citation

Sokoloff, Kenneth L., and Stanley L. Engerman. 2000. "Institutions, Factor Endowments, and Paths of Development in the New World." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3): 217-232.

DOI: 10.1257/jep.14.3.217

Abstract

The explanations offered for the contrasting records of long-run growth and development among the societies of North and South America most often focus on institutions. The traditional explanations for the sources of these differences in institutions, typically highlight the significance of national heritage or religion. We, in contrast, argue that a hemispheric perspective across the wide range of colonies established in the New World by the Europeans suggests that although there were many influences, factor endowments or initial conditions had profound and enduring effects on the long-run paths of institutional and economic development followed by the respective economies.

Article Full-Text Access

Full-text Article (Complimentary)

Authors

Sokoloff, Kenneth L. (UCLA and NBER)
Engerman, Stanley L. (U Rochester and NBER)

JEL Classifications

N16: Economic History: Macroeconomics; Growth and Fluctuations: Latin America; Caribbean

Comments

View Comments on This Article (0) | Login to post a comment