Institutions
Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance
Institutions have (re)emerged as a popular topic in development studies, particularly after Why Nations Fail (2012). However, the study of institutions and institutional change should trace back to key work of Douglass C. North, namely the 1990 book “Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance”. Given several decades have passed, parts of the book are less […]
Tags: #Douglass C. North #Economics #History #Institutional change #Institutions
The Black Man’s Burden
The role of institutions in development has becoming increasingly important, most notably in the recent works “Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy” (2006) and “Why Nations Fail” (2012). Before these books, Basil Davidson wrote “The Black Man’s Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation-State” (1992), which places a large emphasis on the role of […]
Tags: #Basil Davidson #Black Man's Burden #Colonialism #decolonization #Institutions
Post-doc: Policy perspectives on ecological chemical risk management
Posting: Two Postdoctoral Fellow Positions at McGill University Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Start Date: January 2017 or as soon as possible Salary: $45,000 per annum Duration: 2 years, with possibility of 1 year extension We are seeking candidates for two fully-funded Postdoctoral Research Associate positions. One position will be primarily supervised by Steve Maguire, Professor of […]
Tags: #Ecology #Environment #Institutions #Policy #Risk Management
Contesting Power
Acemoglu and Robinson’s Why Nations Fail (2012) offers insight into why wealth and poverty exists (see post here). It also provides direction as to how more inclusive political and economic institutions are formed, which draws on their 2006 book, On the Origins of Democracy and Dictatorship. They open with a comment about the Arab Spring: […]
Tags: #Democracy #Inclusive #Institutions #Power #Rule of law
Colonial Impact & Legacy
Acemoglu and Robinson, in their widely read Why Nations Fail (2014), have an excellent example of the immediate and long-term legacy impacts of colonialism, which is worth quoting at length (p. 249-250): The extractive institutions created by the Dutch in the Spice Islands had the desired effects, though, in Banda this was at the […]
Tags: #Colonial legacy #Colonialism #Extractive Institutions #Institutions #Why Nations Fail
Why Nations Fail
Why Nations Fail (2012), by Acemoglu and Robinson, is probably one of the most influential development studies books of the last decade. Although the idea itself is not new, the authors make a details and persuasive argument that institutions are a primary reason for national wealth and poverty. They write: “The central thesis of this […]
Tags: #Economic growth #Institutions #Politics #Power #Why Nations Fail
Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
Acemoglu and Robinson are most well known for their book Why Nations Fail. This thought provoker post covers an earlier work, from 2006: Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Parts of this book are heavy with the formulas; so those wary of economics and mathematics, and interested in more of the social sciences side of political […]
Tags: #Democracy #Dictatorship #Institutions #Middle Class #Power
About me
Logan Cochrane
Associate Professor at HBKU in the College of Public Policy. He is an Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences and an Adjunct Professor at Hawassa University (Institute for Policy and Development Research). Over the last fifteen years, he has worked in Afghanistan, Benin, Burundi, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Logan acts as a consultant for governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations, seeking to create bridges between research and practice.
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