Under the Thumb of History? Political Institutions and the Scope for Action
Name
Banerjee14-02.pdf
Description
Main Article
Size
290.39 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
7e6aa1be96a624e5a2089bcefc6ce92c
Author(s)
Banerjee, Abhijit V.
Duflo, Esther
Date Issued
October 5, 2013
Publisher
Cambridge, MA: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Series/Report no.
Working paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics;14-02
Abstract
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
Subjects
political economy, determinism
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