Institutions and Econ Development

Acemoglu and robinson main finding

Institutions not geography are the main drivers of differences in long run economic growth

What method do Acemoglu and robinson use

They use IV estimation :

• settler mortailty rates as a instrument for institutions to remove endogenity

Quick fact from Acemoglu and Robinson

• 1 standard deviation improvement in institutional quality two fold increase in income per capita

Potato’s contribution main finding

Potato led to higher pop, pop growth and urbanization

Methodology of Potato paper

uses diff in diff to asses the potato which arrived in europe in the 1600s - 1700s

• exploit exogenous variation in potato suitability to estimate the causal relationship between potato and mention factors

• relies on natural experiment caused by colombia exchange

other key features of the model in potato paper

• fixed effects for region and year

• suitability is exogenous

• interaction term key to see pot 1700

What about controls in potato paper

robust when controlled for rainfall and continent-fixed effects

Why are indians so short paper main findings

• height gap driven by later order children

• birth order main factor

how does birth order affect boys

• beneficial for oldest boys

• later-born boys experience fewer resources

How does birth order affect girls

• less resources

• worse pre natal care

• even if first born resources are rationed as parents expecting to have more children

Pre vs Post natal input fact

• if parents know gender worse outcomes for girls

• health investments decline after son is born

reasons for birth order

• Patrilineality (states with female inheritance do better)

• Religious rituals

• Patrocality ( wife resides with husband after marriage)