| dc.description.abstract | In the growing literature on the creation of institutions, the theories
emphasizing colonial and legal origin, religious affiliation, Western European
influence, and settler mortality, have been especially influential. The influence
of these studies rests heavily on empirical modeling, which, since the theories
are obviously closely related, might actually capture the same primary
mechanism. It is therefore unclear whether the empirical relationships found
are the same or if they are different. Therefore, this paper takes the empirical
models seriously and discriminates amongst the existing models by using
modeling selection criteria, tests of encompassing, and modeling selection. | en |
