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The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Investigation of the Settler Mortality Data

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David Y. Albouy

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Abstract

In a seminal contribution, Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2001) argue property-rights institutions powerfully affect national income, using estimated mortality rates of early European settlers to instrument capital expropriation risk. However 36 of the 64 countries in their sample are assigned mortality rates from other countries, typically based on mistaken or conflicting evidence. Also, incomparable mortality rates from populations of laborers, bishops, and soldiers - often on campaign - are combined in a manner favoring their hypothesis. When these data issues are controlled for, the relationship between mortality and expropriation risk lacks robustness, and instrumental-variable estimates become unreliable, often with infinite confidence intervals.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 14130.

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Date of creation: Jun 2008
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14130

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Production
N10 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations - - - General, International, or Comparative
O11 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
O57 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
P16 - Economic Systems - - Capitalist Systems - - - Political Economy of Capitalism
P51 - Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

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  5. Jean-Marie Dufour, 1997. "Some Impossibility Theorems in Econometrics with Applications to Structural and Dynamic Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(6), pages 1365-1388, November.
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  1. Papaioannou, Elias & Siourounis, Gregorios, 2008. "Economic and Social Factors Driving the Third Wave of Democratization," CEPR Discussion Papers 6986, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Michael Bleaney & Arcangelo Dimico, . "Geography Matters: Reconsidering the Effect of Geography on Development," Discussion Papers 08/14, University of Nottingham, CREDIT. [Downloadable!]
  3. Sambit Bhattacharyya, 2008. "Root Causes of African Underdevelopment," Departmental Working Papers 2008-16, Australian National University, Economics RSPAS. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Ian McLean, 2007. "Might Australia Have Failed? Endowments, Institutions and Contingency," Working Papers 0704, University of Adelaide, School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Olsson, Ola, 2004. "Unbundling Ex-Colonies: A Comment on Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson, 2001," Working Papers in Economics 146, Göteborg University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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