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Experiments About Institutions

delete2024-08-22
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OA
AI
M
Michael Callen
J
Jonathan Weigel
N
Noam Yuchtman *
DOI:10.1146/annurev-economics-091823-031317delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Institutions are a key determinant of economic growth, but the critical junc-tures in which institutions can change are not precisely defined.For example,such junctures are often identified ex post, raising several methodologicalproblems: a selection on the outcome of institutional change; an inability tostudy beliefs, which are central to coordination and thus the process of insti-tutional change; and an inability to conduct experiments to identify causaleffects. We argue that critical junctures are identifiable in real time as mo-ments of deep uncertainty about future institutions. Consistent with thisconception, the papers reviewed (a) examine changes to institutions, i.e., thefundamental rules of the game; (b) are real-time studies of plausible criti-cal junctures; and (c) use field experiments to achieve causal identification.We also advocate for more systematic measurement of beliefs about futureinstitutions to identify critical junctures as they happen and provide an em-pirical proof of concept. Such work is urgent given contemporary criticaljunctures arising from democratic backsliding,state fragility,climate change,and conflicts over the rights of the marginalized.
Keywords:
institutional change
critical junctures
field experiments
fragile states
belief elicitation

Journal

Annual Review of Economics cover
Annual Review of Economics
IF:
11.4
Papers:
356
Citations:
4.5K

Organization

L
London School Economics and Political Science
Scholars:
3.8K
Papers: 3.2K
Citations: 40
U
university of london
Scholars:
21.5W
Papers: 19.7W
Citations: 305
Cited Papers

Cited Papers

BUYING INFORMED VOTERS: NEW EFFECTS OF INFORMATION ON VOTERS AND CANDIDATES
err2020-09-11
err25
errOAAI
errCruz, Cesi; Keefer, Philip; Labonne, Julien
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Does Information Break the Political Resource Curse? Experimental Evidence from Mozambique
err2020-11-01
err38
errOAAI
errArmand, Alex; Coutts, Alexander; Vicente, Pedro C.; Vilela, Ines
errShare
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Development Projects and Economic Networks: Lessons from Rural Gambia
err2020-06-27
err16
PREAI
errHess, Simon; Jaimovich, Dany; Schuendeln, Matthias
errShare
errSave
errShare
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