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21 Cato J. 415 (2001-2002)
Institutional Distortions, Economics Freedom, and Growth

handle is hein.journals/catoj21 and id is 423 raw text is: INSTITUTIONAL DISTORTIONS, ECONOMIC FREEDOM, AND GROWTH Abdiweli M. Ali and W. Mark Crain Two developments in the 1980s revived interest in growth theory and modified the way most economists study the determinants of growth. First, the contributions by Romer (1986) and Lucas (1988) launched a host of new growth models that abandoned the neoclas- sical tenet of diminishing returns to capital and introduced monopo- listic competition as the underlying market form. Second, the contri- butions by North (1990) focused attention on institutions that shape the incentive structure which may either propel or impede productive activity within society. North and others emphasize that the existence of an implicit incentive structure drives both traditional growth mod- els and the new models built around increasing returns.' These de- velopments laid the foundation for a large body of empirical work: some studies examine and compare the aggregate growth patterns, and others seek to identify the specific factors that correlate with growth. The latter studies include numerous attempts to measure empirically the effect of institutional factors on economic develop- ment (e.g., Barro 1991, Sachs and Warner 1997). A common thesis in the new institutional literature maintains that societies that have adopted infrastructures that favor production over diversion have typically done so through effective government (e.g., a strong judiciary and policies that secure property rights). As a result Cato Journal, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Winter 2002). Copyright © Cato Institute. All rights re- served. Abdiweli M. Ali is Research and Forecast Manager at the Virginia Department of Correc- tions and W. Mark Crain is Professor of Economics at the Center for Study of Public Choice, George Mason University. This paper draws on Ali (1997). Hall and Jones (1997) state this idea in terms of the infrastructure of an economy: the collection of laws, institutions, and government policies that make up the economic envi- ronment. In the expanded analytical framework, the institutional infrastructure together with the standard constraints of economic theory determine productive opportunities and economic performance. 415

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