I. Property rights and drivers of the industrial revolution
- Explain why the lack of commitment to not expropriating the citizens may be a problem for a ruler. Which tools can the ruler and/or society use to achieve commitment?
- In their book, Acemoglu and Robinson (2012, e.g. chapter 7) claim that the British Glorious revolution of 1688 was an important prerequisite for the industrial revolution. What is their justification for this claim? Does it seem reasonable?
- Economic historian Bob Allen has argued that the reason for the industrial revolution occurring in Britain was their high labor costs and low energy (coal) prices relative to other countries. Discuss this argument. Does it invalidate Acemoglu and Robinson's argument?
II. The role of pre-colonial insitutions
- Michalopoulos and Papaioannou (2013) explore how pre-colonial institutions affect contemporary economic performance. Why should these institutional features matter today?
- Explain the sources of data they use. How reliable do you think these data sources are? Does this have an impact on how much we should trust their results?
- Explain the econometric specifications they use and which empirical challenges these are designed to handle.
- To what extent can Michalopoulos and Papaioannou claim to find causal effects?
- Michalopoulos and Papaioannou (2013 ) find that strong pre-colonial institutions enhance economic performance today, whereas Acemoglu et al. (2001) argue that societies that the Europeans could take over for their extractive endeavors do worse today. Are the two views contradictory?