Institutions vs. Policies: A Tale of Two Islands / Peter Blair Henry, Conrad Miller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Henry, Peter Blair.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Miller, Conrad.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w14604.

NBER working paper series no. w14604

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Institutions vs. Policies

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2008.

Summary:

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.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2008.