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Introduction
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Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
if formal institutions are what matters (Acemoglu & co., NOT
North) why large gaps between regions/states under the same
institutions?
Putnam:
does the performance of an institution depend on its social,
economic, and cultural surround?
if we transplant institutions, will they grow in the new setting as they
did in the old?
History
culture
Institutions
The experiment
creation of 15 regional governments in 1970
primary responsability for health, agriculture, urban affairs housing,
public works, vocational education (expenditure 10% GDP in 1990)
same legislative framework
Institutional performance
outcome of interest is NOT economic output, rather how well
institutions respond to citizens demands
measure aggregating 12 indicators:
1. cabinet stability
7. family clinics
2. budget promptness
4. reform legislation
5. legislative innovation
Institutional performance
relationship with citizens satisfaction
Institutional performance
territorial divides
Civic communities
formal institutions constant across regions importance of
culture
one aspect of culture: civic communities
civic engagement: interest in public issues and devotion to public
causes
de-facto political equality
solidarity, trust, and tolerance
voluntary associations
measurement:
number of voluntarily associations
newspaper readership
voting turnout at referenda (no vote-buying, no sanctions for
abstension)
preference voting (patron-client politics, inverse measure of civicness)
Measurement of civicness
Civic communities
territorial divides
South:
vertical rather than horizontal political and social bonds (clientelism)
occasional revolts against the authority failed to get organized
(brigandage)
mafia: state inefficiency + mistrust = private protection of property
rights, mafia as a third-party enforcer (Gambetta, 1993)