American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Social Organizations, Violence, and Modern Growth
American Economic Review
vol. 103,
no. 3, May 2013
(pp. 534–38)
Abstract
Social institutions were often founded by the elite to avoid social upheavals. Institutions helped mitigate the threat of violent social responses to labor-saving innovations. But their organizational forms were influenced by preexisting cultural and social factors. The differences in Chinese and English social institutions explain why England became the first modern economy. Using an English panel of poor relief and social unrest from 1650 to 1830, we document that poor relief was statistically significant in reducing social disorder. Social instability, in turn, negatively influenced innovations, while innovations were positively and significantly related to poor relief.Citation
Greif, Avner, and Murat Iyigun. 2013. "Social Organizations, Violence, and Modern Growth." American Economic Review, 103 (3): 534–38. DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.3.534Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D02 Institutions: Design, Formation, and Operations
- D23 Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
- D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances
- E23 Macroeconomics: Production
- O43 Institutions and Growth