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Comparative historical political economy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2013

PETER J. BOETTKE ,
CHRISTOPHER J. COYNE  and
PETER T. LEESON
PETER J. BOETTKE*
Affiliation:
Economics Department, George Mason University, MSN3G4, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
CHRISTOPHER J. COYNE*
Affiliation:
Economics Department, George Mason University, MSN3G4, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
PETER T. LEESON*
Affiliation:
Economics Department, George Mason University, MSN3G4, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
*
*Email: pboettke@gmu.edu
**Email: ccoyne3@gmu.edu
***Email: pleeson@gmu.edu
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Abstract:

Investigations of a society's competitiveness aim to trace the causal mechanisms behind patterns in wealth and poverty across societies. This paper argues that to be productive such investigations must be comparative, historical, and political economic in nature. Comparative historical political economy is how social scientists generate useful knowledge about the wealth and poverty of nations. Our contribution is a methodology – or rather a collection of methodologies – for understanding national competitiveness and attempts to improve it: one focuses on political-economic analysis, another on historical analysis, and a third on comparative analysis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 285 - 301
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2013 

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