Institutions vs. Policies: A Tale of Two Islands / Peter Blair Henry, Conrad Miller.

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Henry, Peter Blair

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Material type: Text

TextSeries: Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. w14604.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2008.Description: 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white)Subject(s):

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Abstract: Recent work emphasizes the primacy of differences in countries' colonially-bequeathed property rights and legal systems for explaining differences in their subsequent economic development. Barbados and Jamaica provide a striking counter example to this long-run view of income determination. Both countries inherited property rights and legal institutions from their English colonial masters yet experienced starkly different growth trajectories in the aftermath of independence. From 1960 to 2002, Barbados' GDP per capita grew roughly three times as fast as Jamaica's. Consequently, the income gap between Barbados and Jamaica is now almost five times larger than at the time of independence. Since their property rights and legal systems are virtually identical, recent theories of development cannot explain the divergence between Barbados and Jamaica. Differences in macroeconomic policy choices, not differences in institutions, account for the heterogeneous growth experiences of these two Caribbean nations.

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Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Working Paper	Biblioteca Digital	Colección NBER	nber w14604 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Not For Loan

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Previous	nber w14601 Forecast Evaluation of Small Nested Model Sets /	nber w14602 Conveying Quality and Value in Emerging Industries: Star Scientists and the Role of Learning in Biotechnology /	nber w14603 Endogenous Presidentialism /	nber w14604 Institutions vs. Policies: A Tale of Two Islands /	nber w14605 Trading Frictions and House Price Dynamics /	nber w14606 Can Hearts and Minds Be Bought? The Economics of Counterinsurgency in Iraq /	nber w14607 Estimating Teacher Impacts on Student Achievement: An Experimental Evaluation /	Next

December 2008.

Recent work emphasizes the primacy of differences in countries' colonially-bequeathed property rights and legal systems for explaining differences in their subsequent economic development. Barbados and Jamaica provide a striking counter example to this long-run view of income determination. Both countries inherited property rights and legal institutions from their English colonial masters yet experienced starkly different growth trajectories in the aftermath of independence. From 1960 to 2002, Barbados' GDP per capita grew roughly three times as fast as Jamaica's. Consequently, the income gap between Barbados and Jamaica is now almost five times larger than at the time of independence. Since their property rights and legal systems are virtually identical, recent theories of development cannot explain the divergence between Barbados and Jamaica. Differences in macroeconomic policy choices, not differences in institutions, account for the heterogeneous growth experiences of these two Caribbean nations.