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Christian Dittus
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English

THE INSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Shiping Tang

A systemic account of how institutions shape economic development

Institutions matter for economic development. Yet despite this accepted wisdom, new institutional economics (NIE) has yet to provide a comprehensive look at what constitutes the institutional foundation of economic development (IFED). Bringing together findings from a range a fields, from development economics and development studies to political science and sociology, The Institutional Foundation of Economic Development explores the precise mechanisms through which institutions affect growth.

Shiping Tang contends that institutions shape economic development through four “Big Things”: possibility, incentive, capability, and opportunity. From this perspective, IFED has six major dimensions: political hierarchy, property rights, social mobility, redistribution, innovation protection, and equal opportunity. Tang further argues that IFED is only one pillar within the New Development Triangle (NDT): sustained economic development also requires strong state capacity and sound socioeconomic policies.

Arguing for an evolutionary approach tied to a country's stage of development, The Institutional Foundation of Economic Development advances an understanding of institutions and economic development through a holistic, interdisciplinary lens.

Shiping Tang is Fudan Distinguished Professor at Fudan University in Shanghai.
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Published 2022-09-01 by Princeton University Press

Comments

“This is a thorough and stimulating book on the institutional foundations of development, appropriately grounded in evidence and the experience of key countries. Shiping Tang moves our understanding of this important set of issues significantly forward.” —Dani Rodrik, Harvard University “Engaging with literature that extends from classical and neoclassical economics to contemporary institutional economics, this is a bold magnum opus about the Great Divergence. Many people—including those outside the field of economic development—will read it, buoyed along by the sheer momentum of Tang's argument.” —Robert H. Wade, author of Governing the Market “Challenging the view of institutional determinism about property rights and democracy, Tang brings new attention and thinking to the field of economic development.” —Justin Yifu Lin, author of Beating the Odds