Why Nations Fail
Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Prosperity is not geography or culture; it is institutions.
Acemoglu and Robinson argued that nations prosper under inclusive economic and political institutions that secure property rights and broad participation, and fail under extractive ones that concentrate power and rents in a narrow elite. Ranging across history, including colonial and post-colonial Africa, they made institutions the central explanation for the wealth of nations, and drew debate for downplaying geography and policy.
Its legacy. It popularized the institutions-first view underpinning the authors' later Nobel-recognized work.
- Author
- Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
- First published
- 2012
- Genre
- Institutional economics
- Theme
- Political Economy and Development
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