On commerce,institutions, and underdevelopment: A comparative perspective

There are ample sources on the exuberance of economic life and the organization of society. Eventually the Middle East and China lost ground to Western Europe and Japan. This has been subject to much work and scholarly activity. Considering the multiplicity of explanations, in this paper I focus on the interactions among power dimensions, activities of various social actors, cultural forces, and how these interactions influenced formation of certain institutions and inhibited others. In particular, I allude to the role of the political center in inhibiting land and commerce-based foci of power in the East, and how this inhibition prevented formation of institutions conducive to economic development. In addition to international economics, he is interested in medieval history and its impact on modern institutions of economic and political life. Dr. Dibooglu was the co-Guest Editor of the KT&P theme issue “Endo/Exogenous,” Volume 13, Number 4, Winter 2001. He may be reached at 〈dibo@siu.edu〉. He would like to thank Richard Grabowski for his helpful comments on an earlier draft but states that all errors or omissions are his own.