is implicit in most economic analyses of economic
development and policy reform: for example, Williamson
(1990); Perkins, Radelet, and Lindauer (2006); and Aghion
and Howitt (2009). A recent, forceful version of this view is
developed in Banerjee and Duflo (2011).
Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2001, 2002) provide
a statistical analysis of the relative role of institutions,
geography, and culture, showing that institutions dominate
the other two types of explanations in accounting for
differences in per capita income today.