How do social conditions and legal institutions foster economic development? The question reflects the unifying concern of the social sciences and of pragmatic legal analysis: can rules and culture promote human progress?
In this seminar, we aim to study the relationship between institutions and growth while broadening the horizon of what counts as growth. We will begin our study by reading excerpts from classic works of social theory alongside more recent scholarship on the appeal of functionalist versus interpretive accounts of private law (i.e., is private law best understood as serving a certain developmental function?). We will then turn to learning from a slate of today’s leading thinkers. Our guests conceive of development in such varied terms as economic growth, social trust, racial and gender equality, technological revolution, post-growth, and more. Each session will examine the institutional underpinnings of development from a different angle, including social norms, rule of law, bureaucratic competence, ideology, entrepreneurship, inequality, family structure, and religion. The seminar will bring together scholars from law, economics, history, anthropology, and sociology.
The 2025 Seminar is held Tuesdays from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. in Sterling Law Building Room 127. The seminar is open to the Yale community.
Readings will be added two weeks prior to each session.
Speakers:
| January 28 | Private & Public Norms Michael Macy — Cornell, Sociology Tom Tyler — Yale Law School |
| February 11 | Contract as Exchange Aditi Bagchi – Fordham, Law |
| February 18 | Development & Patrimonialism Monica Prasad – Johns Hopkins, Sociology Allison Tait – University of Richmond, Law |
| February 25 | The Role of the Rich Guido Alfani – Bocconi, Social and Political Sciences Morris Pearl – Patriotic Millionaires |
| March 4 | Entrepreneurial Capitalism Naomi Lamoreaux – Yale, History (emeritus) Bill Janeway – Cambridge, Economics |
| March 11 | Debt and Dispossession Daniel Hulsebosch – NYU, Law Hannah Appel – UCLA, Anthropology |
| March 25 | Developing Institutions Erin McDonnell – Notre Dame, Sociology Mushtaq Khan – SOAS University of London, Economics |
| April 1 | Causes of Growth Daron Acemoglu – MIT, Economics Joel Mokyr – Northwestern, Economics |
| April 8 | The Chinese System Yasheng Huang – MIT, Sloan School of Management Donald Clarke – GW, Law |
| April 15 | Religion & Development Sohaib Khan – Occidental College, Religious Studies Kathryn Tanner – Yale, Divinity School |