Institutions, Organizations and Growth Accomplishments
- CIFAR researchers pioneered the use of statistical analysis to study the impact of institutions on economic growth. They showed how success and failure are strongly related to the types of institutions countries developed during colonial periods, whether they have parliamentary or presidential systems, or the nature of their electoral systems. This quantitative work substantiates the belief that a country’s modern economic conditions are significantly influenced by events that took place years ago.
- Using a combination of theory, history and econometrics, members studied how political competition affects economic policy and performance. They illustrated how single-party dominance can depress economic development by fostering policies that appeal to the vested interests of a small elite rather than that of the wider populace.
- Members have examined the issue of “missing women” – the more than one hundred million women and girls around the world who – all things equal – should be alive but aren’t. This research raises crucial questions about how economic development relates to female mortality, and to other surprising relationships between economics and culture.