Introduction: Institutions and economic development in South Asia

The ‘weak’ and ‘flawed’ nature of South Asian institutions has become axiomatic in development discourse, with the persistence of this view outweighed only by its lack of concreteness. The fascination with institutions is noteworthy precisely because the most fundamental questions about them are sti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Modern Asian studies 2017-11, Vol.51 (6), p.1657-1667
Main Authors: SULTAN, ATIYAB, WASHBROOK, DAVID
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blame
Dependency theory
Economic development
Economic growth
Economists
Growth models
Informal economy
Innovations
Institutional change
Institutions
Interdisciplinary aspects
Market economies
Political power
Postcolonialism
Privatization
Property rights
Secularism
Society
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Summary:The ‘weak’ and ‘flawed’ nature of South Asian institutions has become axiomatic in development discourse, with the persistence of this view outweighed only by its lack of concreteness. The fascination with institutions is noteworthy precisely because the most fundamental questions about them are still under debate: there is little agreement on the definition of institutions beyond generic statements, let alone an established consensus on which institutions engender development. Instead institutionalist explanations float far and wide, netting the blame for various policy failures, with a striking lack of critical inspection. This special issue is an attempt to bring together various perspectives on institutional change and economic development in South Asia in an attempt to problematize the very concept of institutions and their perceived role in fostering economic development. The geographical focus on South Asia furthers a central aim of this collection: to emphasize the contextual nature of institutions. This translates into a need for disaggregating secular institutional theory into its precise constraints and implications for particular spaces, moments, and contexts.
ISSN:0026-749X
1469-8099
DOI:10.1017/S0026749X17000099