The Emergence of Human Capital Promoting Institutions in the Process of Development

Abstract

This research suggests that favorable geographical conditions, that were inherently associated with inequality in the distribution of land ownership, adversely affected the implementation of human capital promoting institutions (e.g., public schooling and child labor regulations), and thus the pace and the nature of the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy, contributing to the emergence of the Great Divergence in income per capita across countries.\QTR{it}{and Inequality, Institutions, Geography, Human capital accumulation, Growth}\medskip