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An Empirical Investigation of Montesquieu’s Theories on Climate
<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <!-- Google tag (gtag.js) --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-P63WKM1TM1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-P63WKM1TM1'); </script> <!-- Yandex.Metrika counter --> <script type="text/javascript" > (function(m,e,t,r,i,k,a){m[i]=m[i]||function(){(m[i].a=m[i].a||[]).push(arguments)}; m[i].l=1*new Date(); for (var j = 0; j < document.scripts.length; j++) {if (document.scripts[j].src === r) { return; }} k=e.createElement(t),a=e.getElementsByTagName(t)[0],k.async=1,k.src=r,a.parentNode.insertBefore(k,a)}) (window, document, "script", "https://mc.yandex.ru/metrika/tag.js", "ym"); ym(55165297, "init", { clickmap:false, trackLinks:true, accurateTrackBounce:true, webvisor:false }); </script> <noscript><div><img src="https://mc.yandex.ru/watch/55165297" style="position:absolute; left:-9999px;" alt="" /></div></noscript> <!-- /Yandex.Metrika counter --> <!-- Matomo --> <!-- End Matomo Code --> <title>An Empirical Investigation of Montesquieu’s Theories on Climate</title> <meta name="description" content="An Empirical Investigation of Montesquieu’s Theories on Climate"> <meta name="keywords" content="Montesquieu, geography, institutions, economic development, political philosophy, political economy. "> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="citation_title" content="An Empirical Investigation of Montesquieu’s Theories on Climate"> <meta name="citation_author" content="Lisa J. Piergallini"> <meta name="citation_publication_date" content="2016/04/15"> <meta name="citation_journal_title" content="International Journal of Economics and Management Engineering"> <meta name="citation_volume" content="10"> <meta name="citation_issue" content="6"> <meta name="citation_firstpage" content="2017"> <meta name="citation_lastpage" content="2028"> <meta name="citation_pdf_url" content="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/pdf"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" rel="shortcut icon"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/bootstrap-4.2.1/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/fontawesome/css/all.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/css/site.css?v=150220211555" rel="stylesheet"> </head> <body> <header> <div class="container"> <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-light"> <a class="navbar-brand" href="https://waset.org"> <img src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/images/wasetc.png" alt="Open Science Research Excellence" title="Open Science Research Excellence" /> </a> <button class="d-block d-lg-none navbar-toggler ml-auto" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbarMenu" aria-controls="navbarMenu" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation"> <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span> </button> <div class="w-100"> <div class="d-none d-lg-flex flex-row-reverse"> <form method="get" action="https://waset.org/search" class="form-inline my-2 my-lg-0"> <input class="form-control mr-sm-2" type="search" placeholder="Search Conferences" value="" name="q" aria-label="Search"> <button class="btn btn-light my-2 my-sm-0" type="submit"><i class="fas fa-search"></i></button> </form> </div> <div class="collapse navbar-collapse mt-1" id="navbarMenu"> <ul class="navbar-nav ml-auto align-items-center" id="mainNavMenu"> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/conferences" title="Conferences in 2024/2025/2026">Conferences</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/disciplines" title="Disciplines">Disciplines</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/committees" rel="nofollow">Committees</a> </li> <li class="nav-item dropdown"> <a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" id="navbarDropdownPublications" role="button" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false"> Publications </a> <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="navbarDropdownPublications"> <a class="dropdown-item" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts">Abstracts</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="https://publications.waset.org">Periodicals</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="https://publications.waset.org/archive">Archive</a> </div> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/page/support" title="Support">Support</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> <main> <div class="container mt-4"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-9 mx-auto"> <form method="get" action="https://publications.waset.org/search"> <div id="custom-search-input"> <div class="input-group"> <i class="fas fa-search"></i> <input type="text" class="search-query" name="q" placeholder="Author, Title, Abstract, Keywords" value=""> <input type="submit" class="btn_search" value="Search"> </div> </div> </form> </div> </div> <div class="row mt-3"> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Commenced</strong> in January 2007</div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Frequency:</strong> Monthly</div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Edition:</strong> International</div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Paper Count:</strong> 33093</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mt-3 mb-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem">An Empirical Investigation of Montesquieu’s Theories on Climate</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Lisa%20J.%20Piergallini">Lisa J. Piergallini</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>This project uses panel regression analyses to investigate the relationships between geography, institutions, and economic development, as guided by the theories of the 18<sup>th</sup> century French philosopher Montesquieu. Contemporary scholars of political economy perpetually misinterpret Montesquieu’s theories on climate, and in doing so they miss what could be the key to resolving the geography vs. institutions debate. There is a conspicuous gap in this literature, in that it does not consider whether geography and institutors might have an interactive, dynamic effect on economic development. This project seeks to bridge that gap. Data are used for all available countries over the years 1980-2013. Two interaction terms between geographic and institutional variables are employed within the empirical analyses, and these offer a unique contribution to the ongoing geography vs. institutions debate within the political economy literature. This study finds that there is indeed an interactive effect between geography and institutions, and that this interaction has a statistically significant effect on economic development. Democracy (as measured by Polity score) and rule of law and property rights (as measured by the Fraser index) have positive effects on economic development (as measured by GDP per capita), yet the magnitude of these effects are stronger in contexts where a low percent of the national population lives in the geographical tropics. This has implications for promoting economic development, and it highlights the importance of understanding geographical context.</p> <iframe src="https://publications.waset.org/10004721.pdf" style="width:100%; height:400px;" frameborder="0"></iframe> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Montesquieu" title="Montesquieu">Montesquieu</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=geography" title=" geography"> geography</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=institutions" title=" institutions"> institutions</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=economic%20development" title=" economic development"> economic development</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=political%20philosophy" title=" political philosophy"> political philosophy</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=political%20economy." title=" political economy. "> political economy. </a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Digital Object Identifier (DOI):</strong> <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1339307" target="_blank">doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1339307</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/an-empirical-investigation-of-montesquieus-theories-on-climate" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004721.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">2688</span> </span> <p class="card-text"><strong>References:</strong></p> <br>[1] Montesquieu, C.L., Baron de Secondat. (1748/2009). The Spirit of the Laws, eds. Anne M. Cohler, Basia C. Miller, and Harold S. Stone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. W.-K. Chen, Linear Networks and Systems (Book style). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1993, pp. 123–135. <br>[2] Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay. (1788/1999). The Federalist Papers, eds. Charles R. Kesler and Clinton Rossiter. New York: Signet Classic. <br>[3] Chinese Statistical Yearbook. Years 2000-2013. (Database.) Ann Arbor: China Data Center. <br>[4] Acemoglu, D., S. Johnson, and J. A. Robinson. (2000). “The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation.” National bureau of economic research, No. w7771. <br>[5] Easterly, William, and Ross Levine. (2003). “Tropics, Germs, and Crops: How Endowments Influence Economic Development.” Journal of Monetary Economics, 50(1): 3-39. <br>[6] Rodrik, D., and Subramanian, A. (2003). The primacy of institutions. Finance and Development, 40(2), 31-34. <br>[7] Rodrik, D., Subramanian, A., and Trebbi, F. (2004). Institutions rule: the primacy of institutions over geography and integration in economic development. Journal of economic growth, 9(2), 131-165. <br>[8] Gallup, J. L., and J. D. Sachs. (2001). The economic burden of malaria. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 64(1 suppl), 85-96. <br>[9] Sachs, J. D., Mellinger, A. D., and Gallup, J. L. (2001). The geography of poverty and wealth. Scientific American, 284(3), 70-75. <br>[10] Sachs, J. D. (2003). Institutions don't rule: direct effects of geography on per capita income (No. w9490). National Bureau of Economic Research. <br>[11] Collier, Paul. (2007). The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <br>[12] Dell, M., Jones, B. F., & Olken, B. A. (2009). Temperature and income: reconciling new cross-sectional and panel estimates (No. w14680). National Bureau of Economic Research. <br>[13] Englebert, Pierre, and Kevin Dunn. (2013). Inside African Politics. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. <br>[14] Mills, Greg and Jeffrey Herbst. (2012). Africa’s Third Liberation: The New Search for Prosperity and Jobs. Johannesburg: Global Penguin. <br>[15] Waterbury, John. (1994). “Democracy Without Democrats?: the potential for political liberalization in the Middle East,” in Democracy Without Democrats?: The Renewal of Politics in the Muslim World, ed. Ghassan Salame. London: I. B. Tauris. <br>[16] Knack, Stephen. (1999). Aid Dependence and the Quality of Governance: A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. <br>[17] Ross, Michael L. (2004). “Does taxation lead to representation?” British Journal of Political Science, 34(2): 229-249. <br>[18] Sakr, Naomi. (2003). “Freedom of Expression, Accountability and Development in the Arab Region.” Journal of Human Development, 4(1): 29-46. <br>[19] Bellin, Eva. (2004). “The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Exceptionalism in Comparative Perspective.” Comparative Politics, 36(2): 139-157. <br>[20] Jensen, Nathan, and Leonard Wantchekon. (2004). “Resource Wealth and Political Regimes in Africa.” Comparative Political Studies, 37(7): 816-841. <br>[21] Morrison, Kevin. (2009). “Oil, Non-Tax Revenue, and the Redistributional Foundations of Regime Stability.” International Organization, 63(1): 107-38. <br>[22] Henry, Clement Moore, and Robert Springborg. (2010). Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East, Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. <br>[23] Kelley, Jeremy. (2012). “China in Africa: Curing the Resource Curse with Infrastructure and Modernization.” Sustainable Development Law & Policy, 12(3): 35-60. <br>[24] Parent, O., & Zouache, A. (2012). Geography versus Institutions: New Perspectives on the Growth of Africa and the Middle East. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics JITE, 168(3), 488-518. <br>[25] Plato. (1991). The Republic, ed. Allan Bloom. Jackson: Basic Books. <br>[26] World Bank. (2015). Developmental Indicators. (Database). Washington, D.C. <br>[27] Gallup, J. L., J. D. Sachs, and A. D. Mellinger. (1999). “Geography and Economic Development,” International Regional Science Review, 22(2): 179-232. <br>[28] Fraser Institute. (2015). Economic Freedom of the World 2015 Annual Report. (Database). Vancouver. <br>[29] Marshall, Monty, Ted R Gurr, and Keith Jaggers. (2013). Polity IV (Database). Center for Systematic Peace. <br>[30] Andrews, Matt. (2013). The Limits of Institutional Reform in Development: Changing Rules for Realistic Solutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. <br>[31] Booth, David, and Diana Cammack. (2013). Governance for Development in Africa: Solving Collective Action Problems. 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