Institutions and Geography: Comment on Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson (2000)

John McArthur and Jeffrey D. Sachs

No 8114, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper responds to findings by Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson (2000) that suggest weak institutions, but not physical geography and correlates like disease burden, explain current variation in levels of economic development across former colonies. Using similar data and expanding the sample of countries analyzed, our regression analysis shows that both institutions and geographically-related variables such as malaria incidence or life expectancy at birth are strongly linked to gross national product per capita. We argue that the evidence presented in Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson is likely limited by the inherently small sample of ex-colonies and the limited geographic dispersion of those countries.

JEL-codes: O11 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-02
Note: EFG
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (102)

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