State history and economic development: evidence from six millennia

Oana Borcan, Ola Olsson and Louis Putterman
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Oana Borcan: University of East Anglia

Journal of Economic Growth, 2018, vol. 23, issue 1, No 1, 40 pages

Abstract: Abstract The presence of a state is one of the most reliable historical predictors of social and economic development. In this article, we complete the coding of an extant indicator of state presence from 3500 BCE forward for almost all but the smallest countries of the world today. We outline a theoretical framework where accumulated state experience increases aggregate productivity in individual countries but where newer or relatively inexperienced states can reach a higher productivity maximum by learning from the experience of older states. The predicted pattern of comparative development is tested in an empirical analysis where we introduce our extended state history variable. Our key finding is that the current level of economic development across countries has a hump-shaped relationship with accumulated state history.

Keywords: State history; Comparative development; Institutions; Deep roots (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N00 O11 O43 O50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (79)

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Related works:
Working Paper: State History and Economic Development: Evidence from Six Millennia (2014)
Working Paper: State History and Economic Development: Evidence from Six Millennia (2014)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10887-017-9152-0

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