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This article provides a succinct review of the arguments stressing the mutual relationship between institutions and economic performance, and a scholarly account of some of the most popular econometric strategies used to minimize reversed causality problems in impact estimation. Among the techniques revisited we find the instrumental variables (IV) approach, distributed lags and vector autoregressions (VAR), quasi-experiments, and identification by heteroskedasticity (IH). Ultimately, the review is conceived as a methodological aide to researchers seeking to explore causal relationships through the use of the Institutional Profiles Database (IPD) produced by the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD).
The Institutional Profiles Database (IPD) produced by the Agence Fran ̧caisede D ́eveloppement (AFD) has been carried out in 2001, 2006 and 2009, anda new wave is planned for 2012. Although the structure of the surveys variesgreatly between 2006 and 2009, the similarity of a substantial proportionof the questions allows for exploring and exploiting the panel componentsof the database. This paper presents some general patterns of short-terminstitutional change, aided by a conceptual classification of the institutionalvariables. It tests two hypotheses in a preliminary way: a) that institutionstend to score higher over time, and b) that institutions tend to convergeacross countries. Additionally, it explores associations between institutionsand growth for the period 2001-2009.
State capacity has attracted renewed interest over the last years, notably in the study of violent conflict. Yet, this concept is conceived differently depending on where the interest lies. In this article, we focus on bureaucratic autonomy as a distinct concept and discuss its connection to state capacity in detail. Using panel data over 1990–2010 and a novel indicator of autonomy, we estimate the separate effect of state capacity and bureaucratic autonomy on child mortality and tuberculosis prevalence. The evidence suggests that bureaucratic autonomy has a stronger impact than commonly used measures of state capacity or traditional macroeconomic variables.