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  5. Review of Political Order and Inequality: Their Foundations and Their Consequences by Carles Boix

Journal of Economic Literature

ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)

Review of Political Order and Inequality: Their Foundations and Their Consequences by Carles Boix

  • Alberto Alesina
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 54, no. 3, September 2016
(pp. 935–41)
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Abstract

Political Order and Inequality: Their Foundations and Their Consequences argues that geography, technology, and wars determined the formation of a ruling class, inequality, and institutional development, rather than the other way around. Institutions are not a cause but a consequence. This relatively short book covers an enormous amount of material. I have sympathy for the basic idea of the book, but in some parts I would have liked to see more detailed evidence, especially on the more recent history and the Industrial Revolution.

Citation

Alesina, Alberto. 2016. "Review of Political Order and Inequality: Their Foundations and Their Consequences by Carles Boix." Journal of Economic Literature, 54 (3): 935–41. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20151366

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D02 Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
  • D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
  • D72 Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
  • H11 Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government
  • O43 Institutions and Growth