Long-run Causes of Comparative Development: An Interpretation of the Recent Evidence

What explains the extreme variations in development achievement, among LDCs, and between developing and developed countries? This paper present a schematic framework for the interpretation of some influential recent contributions to the study of the majo long-run causes of comparative development. The major emphasis is placed on what has been learned recently about the role of institutions in relation to other factors, through the use of centuries rather than decades of data.