1. Introduction; 2. The collective-action difficulties of creating an effective state; 3. The pre-state of England and Spain: the importance of man-made geography; 4. The early state in England and Spain; 5. The minimally effective state; 6. The truly effective state; 7. English and Spanish colonial policies; 8. The English colonies; 9. Colonial Mexico; 10. The collective-action problems of the formation of the United States; 11. The collective-action problems of the formation of Mexico; 12. The implications for development theory.
This groundbreaking book examines the history of Spain, England, the United States, and Mexico to explain why development takes centuries.
Jerry F. Hough is the James B. Duke Professor of Political Science at Duke University. He has taught at Duke since 1973. He has previously taught at the University of Toronto and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and he has served as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Hough received his PhD from Harvard University in 1961. His research has focused on the Soviet Union, the democratization of Russia and America, and nation building in the United States. He is the author of How the Soviet Union Is Governed; Soviet Leadership in Transition; The Struggle for the Third World; Soviet Debate and American Options; Democratization and Revolution in the USSR, 1985–1991; The Logic of Economic Reform in Russia; and Changing Party Coalitions: The Mystery of the Red State–Blue State Alignment. Robin Grier earned her PhD from George Mason University in 1995. She was an Assistant Professor of Economics at Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City before joining the University of Oklahoma in 1999. She became an Associate Professor of Economics in 2004 and a Professor in 2010. Grier's research has been published in the Journal of Development Economics, the Journal of Law and Economics, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Review of Development Economics, the Journal of Development Studies, Economic Inquiry, Public Choice, the Southern Economic Journal, Kyklos, Economía Mexicana, El Trimestre Económico, and Rationality and Society. Her area of specialization is the political economy of development in Latin America and Mexico.
'To better to understand today's developing world, Hough and Grier
turn to history. Argument after argument, point after point, they
demonstrate the benefits of doing so. This study adds to the legacy
of North, Olson, Acemoglu and Robinson, all of whom have turned to
the study of political history in an effort to comprehend the
economics of development.' Robert Bates, Eaton Professor of the
Science of Government, Harvard University
'How exactly does colonial history shape the subsequent economic
development of a nation? The Long Process of Development is the
best and deepest treatment of this question that has been penned.'
Tyler Cowen, George Mason University
'Economists and policy makers have ignored the time it takes to
foster substantial change in informal institutions that are a sine
qua non for economic development and political stability.
Synthesizing the classic works of Douglass North, Mancur Olson and
Max Weber, Grier and Hough add a temporal factor that illuminates
the slow pace to the modern world.' David D. Laitin, Watkins
Professor of Political Science, Stanford University
'To my knowledge, this book is the first, and surely the first
serious, attempt to confront the transactions costs-based
approaches of Olson and North with the evolved-order approaches of
Hayek and Buchanan. The result is a book of signal merit,
explaining both the politics of economic development and the
economics of political development.' Michael C. Munger, Duke
University
'A development narrative that has both the historical long-view and
the granularity of the particular. Their insights will be valuable
to all students of development - and a healthy antidote to the fad
panaceas of the day.' Lant Pritchett, Harvard University
'It may sound obvious and trite, yet it is the most
underappreciated fact of comparative development: constructing
effective states takes time - a very long time. As Jerry Hough and
Robin Grier show, the process took more than four centuries in
England and Spain. Their analytical history sheds light on why the
norms and practices that sustain modern states require long periods
of gestation to become solidly entrenched. This is a book with
critical implications for today's state-building efforts in the
developing world. It warns us not to expect miracles and teaches us
that chance, contingency and time all play a larger role than we
typically allow.' Dani Rodrik, Institute for Advanced Study,
Princeton
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