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The Wig and the Pith Helmet - the Impact of "Legal School" versus Colonial Institutions on Economic Performance (second version)

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  • Jacek Rostowski
  • Bogdan Stacescu

Abstract

The difference between common law and French civil law countries fails to have a statistically significant effect on economic growth, whereas the difference between British and French colonies has a strong effect when the two pairs of institutional variables are included separately in regressions. Moreover, when both pairs of variables are included together, the impact of the difference in legal school becomes highly insignificant, whereas the difference in colonial origin continues to be highly significant. Throughout we control for fundamental environmental and historical variables. Thus, we find that certain objective markers of historically based institutional differences do have an important impact on economic growth. We also find evidence that the incidence of malaria is endogenous to economic development. Our results have implications for the "geography vs. institutions" and "policies vs. institutions" debates on the deep determinants of economic growth.

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  • Jacek Rostowski & Bogdan Stacescu, 2006. "The Wig and the Pith Helmet - the Impact of "Legal School" versus Colonial Institutions on Economic Performance (second version)," CASE Network Studies and Analyses 0300, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:sec:cnstan:0300
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    Cited by:

    1. Henryk Wnorowski, 2010. "Wpływ podatków na wzrost gospodarczy i konkurencyjność w ujęciu instytucjonalnym," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 4, pages 47-65.
    2. Julius A. Agbor, 2011. "How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2011-027, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Sazzadul Arefin, 2019. "Geographic Endowment, Corruption, and Economic Development," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(1), pages 1-32, March.
    4. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    5. Barriola, Illan & Deffains, Bruno & Musy, Olivier, 2023. "Law and inequality: A comparative approach to the distributive implications of legal systems," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Jacek Rostowski, 2007. "Institutional Transplants in the Transformation of Poland's Economy and Polity," CASE Network Studies and Analyses 0339, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    7. Glawe, Linda & Wagner, Helmut, 2017. "The Deep Determinants of the Middle-Income Trap," CEAMeS Discussion Paper Series 10/2017, University of Hagen, Center for East Asia Macro-economic Studies (CEAMeS), revised 2017.
    8. Funjika, Patricia & Getachew, Yoseph Y., 2022. "Colonial origin, ethnicity and intergenerational mobility in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    9. Andrés Blanco Blanco & Vicente Fretes Cibils & Andrés Muñoz Miranda & Alan Gilbert & Steven Webb & Eduardo Reese & Florencia Almansi & Julieta del Valle & Suzana Pasternak & Camila D’Ottaviano & Isabe, 2014. "Rental Housing Wanted: Options for Expanding Housing Policy," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 87354 edited by Andrés Blanco Blanco & Vicente Fretes Cibils & Andrés Muñoz Miranda, February.
    10. J.A. Agbor & J. W. Fedderke & N. Viegi, 2010. "How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in sub-Saharan Africa?," Working Papers 176, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    11. Blanco Blanco, Andrés & Fretes Cibils, Vicente & Muñoz Miranda, Andrés & Gilbert, Alan & Webb, Steven & Reese, Eduardo & Almansi, Florencia & Del Valle, Julieta & Pasternak, Suzana & Brain, Isabel & M, 2014. "Rental Housing Wanted: Options for Expanding Housing Policy," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 6730.
    12. Kyriacou, Andreas P., 2016. "Individualism–collectivism, governance and economic development," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 91-104.
    13. Babacar Sarr, 2016. "What Are the Drivers of Fiscal Performance Gaps between Anglophone and Francophone Africa? A Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 84(1), pages 40-62, March.
    14. C. Dannemann & Erkan Goeren, 2018. "The Educational Burden of ADHD: Evidence From Student Achievement Test Scores," Working Papers V-408-18, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2018.

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