The Empirical Institutions of Growth

Why do some countries experience growth, while others don’t? The answer is that countries are not ordered in the same way, or as an economist would say; their institutional arrangements differ, and that leads to different outcomes. This in not just a theoretical point, it is in fact highly empirically observable. In today’s episode we will meet three laurates that made just such observations; Simon Smith Kuznets who are not just famous for two curves, but also for spearheading the creation of essential empirical data, such a national income accounts. Theodore Schultz, an agricultural economist who showed why human capital matters, and finally Douglas North. The first historian to win the price, and a person that teaches us to take time seriously.References:Kuznets, S.S. (1971), Price Lecture, [lecture transcript]. Retrieved from:www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1971/kuznets/lecture/  Kuznets, S.S. (1971). Banquet speech [Speech transcript]. Retrieved from: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1971/kuznets/speech/Schultz, T. (1979), Price Lecture, [lecture transcript]. Retrieved from:www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1979/schultz/lecture/Schultz, T. (1979). Banquet speech [Speech transcript] Retrieved from: www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1979/schultz/speech/North, D.C. (1993), Price Lecture, [lecture transcript]. Retrieved from:www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1993/north/lecture/North, D.C. (1993) Banquet speech [Speech transcript]. Retrieved from:www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1993/north/speech/   North D. (1991) Institutions; Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 5, No. 1 (Winter, 1991), pp. 97-112. North, D.C. (1993), Interview. Retrieved from: www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1993/north/interview/