James A. Robinson
Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Professor and University Professor; Institute Director of The Pearson Institute
Publications
Constitutions and Order: A Theory and Comparative Evidence from Colombia and the United States
Citation “Constitutions and Order: A theory and comparative evidence from Colombia and the United States” with Leopoldo Fergusson, Javier Mejia, and Santiago Torres (2023). Working Paper. Download (PDF) Constitutions and Order: A theory and comparative evidence from...
Missing Discussions: Institutional Constraints in the Islamic Political Tradition
Citation "Missing Discussions: Institutional Constraints in the Islamic Political Tradition" with A. Arda Gitmez and Mehdi Shadmehr (2023). Working Paper. Download (PDF) Missing Discussions: Institutional Constraints in the Islamic Political Tradition Download...
African Political Institutions and the Impact of Colonialism
Citation “African Political Institutions and the Impact of Colonialism” (2022). Working Paper. Download (PDF) African Political Institutions and the Impact of Colonialism Abstract Conventional wisdom proposes deep historical roots for authoritarianism in Africa:...
Tax Aversion and the Social Contract in Africa
Citation “Tax Aversion and the Social Contract in Africa” (2022). Working Paper. Download (PDF) Tax Aversion and the Social Contract in Africa Abstract Despite the low levels of taxation and public good provision in Africa, I provide evidence that a large proportion...
The economic effects of the English Parliamentary enclosures
Citation “The economics effects of the English Parliamentary enclosures” with Leander Heldring and Sebastian Vollmer (2022). Working Paper. Download (PDF) The economic effects of the English Parliamentary enclosures Abstract We use a dataset of the entire population...
The Second World War, Inequality, and the Social Contract in Britain
Citation “The Second World War, Inequality, and the Social Contract in Britain,” with Leander Heldring and Parker Whitfill (2022). Working Paper. Download (PDF) The Second World War, Inequality and the Social Contract in Britain Abstract What is the impact of warfare...
Non-Modernization: Power-Culture Trajectories and the Dynamics of Political Institutions
Citation “Non-Modernization: Power-Culture Trajectories and the Dynamics of Political Institutions,” with Daron Acemoglu (2021). Working Paper. Download (PDF) Non-Modernization: Power-Culture Trajectories and the Dynamics of Political Institutions Abstract...
The Political Economy of Latin America: New Visions
Citation “The Political Economy of Latin America: New Visions,” with José Luis Falconi (2021). Working Paper. Download (PDF) The Political Economy of Latin America: New Visions Abstract Latin American under-development has been fundamentally determined by a political...
Culture, Institutions and Social Equilibria: A Framework
Citation “Culture, Institutions and Social Equilibria: A Framework,” with Daron Acemoglu (2024). Working Paper Download (PDF) Culture, Institutions, and Social Equilibria: A Framework Abstract This paper proposes a new framework for studying the interplay between...
Africa’s Latent Assets
Citation “Africa's Latent Assets,” with Soeren Henn (2021). Working Paper. Download (PDF) Africa's Latent Assets Abstract Despite the past centuries’ economic setbacks and challenges, are there reasons for optimism about Africa’s economic prospects? We provide a...