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Institutions vs. Policies: A Tale of Two Islands

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Peter Blair Henry
Conrad Miller

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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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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 14604.

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Date of creation: Dec 2008
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14604

Note: EFG IFM ITI LE LS ME PE POL
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E0 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General
F0 - International Economics - - General
N0 - Economic History - - General
O0 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - General

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  1. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
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  2. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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