Colonial Origins and Institutional Persistence
Colonial powers created different institutions depending on local conditions—and these differences persist centuries later.
Explain how colonial institutions created path dependencies that persist today.
Core Teachings
Key concepts with source texts
This clever research design solves the chicken-and-egg problem: do good institutions cause prosperity, or does prosperity enable good institutions? Settler mortality affected institutions but couldn't directly affect modern income (except through institutions).
From the Source Texts
"In places where the disease environment made it difficult for Europeans to survive, they set up extractive states with the intention of transferring resources to the metropole."
Commentary
This insight won the authors the 2024 Nobel Prize—they found a way to prove causation, not just correlation.
Understanding institutional persistence explains why development is so difficult—you're fighting against centuries of institutional path dependence.
Study Materials
Primary sources with guided reading
How Europe Became So Rich | Prof. Joel Mokyr
Joel Mokyr (2025 Nobel laureate) explains why Europe specifically developed—complementing the institutions story with the role of competitive states and the Republic of Letters.
Additional Resources
Acemoglu & Robinson's paper documenting the reversal of fortune among former colonies.
Write your thoughts before revealing answers
Consider these points:
- •What type of colonial institutions did each receive?
- •What role did post-independence leadership play?
- •How did each country's institutions evolve?
Your Thoughts
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Why did Acemoglu, Johnson & Robinson use settler mortality as an instrumental variable?