Under the Thumb of History? Political Institutions and the Scope for Action
Author(s)
Banerjee, Abhijit V.; Duflo, Esther
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Under the Thumb of History?
Political Institutions and the Scope for Action
This paper discusses the two leading views of history and political institutions. For some scholars, institutions are mainly products of historical logic, while for others, accidents, leaders, and decisions have a significant impact. We argue that while there is clear evidence that history matters and has long-term effects, there is not enough data to help us distinguish between the two views. Faced with this uncertainty, what is a social scientist to do? We argue that given the possibility that policy decisions indeed make a difference, it makes sense to assume they do and to try to improve policymaking.
Description
Draft prepared for the Annual Review of Economics, Oct. 5, 2013
Date issued
2013-10-05Publisher
Cambridge, MA: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Series/Report no.
Working paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics;14-02
Keywords
political economy, determinism