Institutions count [[electronic resource] ] : their role and significance in Latin American development / / Alejandro Portes and Lori D. Smith

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910462892403321
• Autore: Portes Alejandro <1944->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2012
• ISBN: 1-283-54324-9; 9786613855695; 0-520-95406-8
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (221 p.)
• Altri autori (Persone): SmithLori D. <1982->
• Disciplina: 303.4098
• Soggetti: Economic development - Social aspects - Latin America; Institutional economics; Public administration - Latin America; Social institutions - Latin America; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front matter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Institutions and Development: A Conceptual Reanalysis -- 2. The Comparative Study of Institutions: The "Institutional Turn" in Development Studies: A Review -- 3. Institutional Change and Development in Argentina -- 4. Institutional Change and Development in Chilean Market Society -- 5. The Colombian Paradox: A Thick Institutionalist Analysis -- 6. Development Opportunities: Politics, the State, and Institutions in the Dominican Republic in the Twenty-First Century -- 7. The Uneven and Paradoxical Development of Mexico's Institutions -- 8. Conclusion: The Comparative Analysis of the Role of Institutions in National Development -- Appendix: Investigators -- Contributors -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: What leads to national progress? The growing consensus in the social sciences is that neither capital flows, nor the savings rate, nor diffuse values are the key, but that it lies in the quality of a nation's institutions. This book is the first comparative study of how real institutions affect national development. It seeks to examine and ; deepen this insight through a systematic study of institutions in five Latin American countries and how they differ within and across nations. Postal systems, stock exchanges, public health services and others were included in the sample, all studied with the same methodology. The country chapters present detailed results of this empirical exercise for each individual country. The introductory chapters present the theoretical framework and research methodology for the full study. The summary results of this ambitious study presented in the concluding chapter draw comparisons across countries and discuss what these results mean for national development in Latin America.