IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jdevst/v44y2008i8p1081-1099.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cows and Conquistadors: A Contribution on the Colonial Origins of Comparative Development

Author

Listed:
  • David Fielding
  • Sebastian Torres

Abstract

Identification of the impact of political and economic institutions on economic development requires the use of valid instruments for institutional quality. Recent empirical studies use colonial settler mortality rates as such an instrument. Our paper develops a more eclectic theory of colonial development, and compares the performance of the settler mortality model to alternatives incorporating instruments reflecting the factor endowments of colonial economies. Ceteris paribus, colonies with a natural comparative advantage in pastoral agriculture were more likely to experience European settlement that led to non-extractive institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • David Fielding & Sebastian Torres, 2008. "Cows and Conquistadors: A Contribution on the Colonial Origins of Comparative Development," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(8), pages 1081-1099.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:44:y:2008:i:8:p:1081-1099
    DOI: 10.1080/00220380802242347
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220380802242347
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00220380802242347?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rosemary Thorp, 1998. "Progress, Poverty and Exclusion: An Economic History of Latin America in the 20th Century," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 79303, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stephen Knowles & P. Dorian Owen, 2010. "Which Institutions are Good for Your Health? The Deep Determinants of Comparative Cross-country Health Status," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(4), pages 701-723.
    2. Biliang Hu & Xing Tang & Lin Yin & Qian Liu, 2021. "Emerging Markets Redefined: Comprehensive Measurement and Future Prospects," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 13(2), pages 165-191, May.
    3. Chen, Yunyan & Wu, Shinong & Zhou, Yucheng & Huo, Di, 2023. "Gambling culture and corporate violations: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Fredriksson, Per G. & Gupta, Satyendra Kumar, 2022. "Land productivity and colonization," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    5. Bezemer, Dirk & Bolt, Jutta & Lensink, Robert, 2014. "Slavery, Statehood, and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 148-163.
    6. Stephen Knowles, 2006. "Is Social Capital Part of the Institutions Continuum and is it a Deep Determinant of Development?," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-25, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Stephen Knowles, & Clayton Weatherston, 2006. "Informal Institutions and Cross-Country Income Differences," Discussion Papers 06/06, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. M. del Mar Rubio Varas, 2006. "Protectionist but globalised? Latin American custom duties and trade during the pre-1914 belle époque," Economics Working Papers 967, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    2. Astorga, Pablo, 2012. "Mean reversion in long-horizon real exchange rates: Evidence from Latin America," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1529-1550.
    3. Martin Victor & Vazquez Guillermo, 2015. "Club convergence in Latin America," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 791-820, July.
    4. Mar Rubio & Mauricio Folchi, 2005. "The apparent consumption of fossil energy as an indicator of modernisation in Latin America by 1925: a proposal using foreign trade statistics," Working Papers 5056, Economic History Society.
    5. Salazar-Xirinachs, Jose M., 2002. "Proliferation of sub-Regional Trade Agreements in the Americas: an assessment of key analytical and policy issues," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 181-212.
    6. Sebastian Edwards, 2009. "Latin America's Decline: A Long Historical View," NBER Working Papers 15171, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. M. d. MAR RUBIO & CÉSAR YÁÑEZ & MAURICIO FOLCHI & ALBERT CARRERAS, 2010. "Energy as an indicator of modernization in Latin America, 1890–1925," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 63(3), pages 769-804, August.
    8. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2015. "World Human Development: 1870–2007," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(2), pages 220-247, June.
    9. Samuel GUERINEAU & Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Jean-Louis COMBES, 2008. "Deforestation and credit cycles in Latin American countries," Working Papers 200808, CERDI.
    10. Grogan, Louise, 2018. "Time use impacts of rural electrification: Longitudinal evidence from Guatemala," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 304-317.
    11. Orihuela, José Carlos, 2017. "Assembling participatory Tambopata: Environmentality entrepreneurs and the political economy of nature," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 52-62.
    12. Enriqueta Camps, 2009. "Globalization and culture shaping the gender gap: A comparative analysis of urban Latin America and East Asia (1970 - 2000)," Economics Working Papers 1145, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    13. Prados de la Escosura, Leandro, 2019. "Human Development in the Age of Globalisation," CEPR Discussion Papers 13744, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Astorga, Pablo, 2010. "A century of economic growth in Latin America," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 232-243, July.
    15. Paola Azar Dufrechou, 2018. "Electoral politics and the diffusion of primary schooling: evidence from Uruguay, 1914-1954," Working Papers wpdea1801, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    16. repec:cte:whrepe:wh054104 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Trofimov, Ivan D., 2018. "Income terms of trade and economic convergence: Evidence from Latin America," MPRA Paper 87598, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Jonathan Di John, 2007. "Oil abundance and violent political conflict: A critical assessment," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(6), pages 961-986.
    19. Astorga, Pablo, 2007. "Real exchange rates in Latin America : what does the 20th century reveal?," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH wp07-03, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    20. Nikita Sud & Diego Sánchez‐Ancochea, 2022. "Southern Discomfort: Interrogating the Category of the Global South," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(6), pages 1123-1150, November.
    21. Acevedo, Alejandra & Mold, Andrew & Perez Caldentey, Esteban, 2009. "The Analysis of ‘Leading Sectors’: A Long term view of 18 Latin American economies," MPRA Paper 15017, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:44:y:2008:i:8:p:1081-1099. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FJDS20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.