Economic growth
Regulation of banks and financial markets
Industrial development
Mythof the Resource curse

Research fields: comparative politics and economic history.

Social Science History Program , Director
Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution
Stanford Center for International Development

Dean's Distinguished Teaching Award, Stanford University, 1992 and 2002
University Fellow, Stanford University, 1993-95.
Phi Beta Kappa, 1979.

Editorial Boards:

Latin American Development Forum, World Bank/Stanford University Press, 2003 -
Journal of the Historical Society, 1999-2006.
Social Science History, 1988--.
Hispanic American Historical Review, 1998--.
História Econômica e História de Empresas, 1997--.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, 1997--.
The Journal of Economic History, 1994-1997, 2007 -
Stanford University Press, 1993-96.

Political Science 346S: Logic of Authoritarian Government
Political Science 440B: Political Economy of Development

Books:

Mexico Since 1980 (with Herbert S. Klein, Noel Maurer, and Kevin J. Middlebrook). Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Political Institutions and Financial Development (ed., with Douglass C. North and Barry R. Weingast). Stanford University Press, 2007.

The Politics of Property Rights: Political Instability, Credible Commitments, and Economic Growth in Mexico, 1876-1929 (with Armando Razo and Noel Maurer). Cambridge University Press, Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions Series, 2003.

The Mexican Economy, 1870-1930: Essays on the Economic History of Institutions, Revolution, and Growth (ed., with Jeffrey L. Bortz). Stanford University Press, 2002.

Crony Capitalism and Economic Growth in Latin America: Theory and Evidence. Hoover Institution Press, 2002.

Political Institutions and Economic Growth in Latin America: Essays in Policy, History, and Political Economy. Hoover Institution Press, 2000.

How Latin America Fell Behind: Essays on the Economic Histories of Brazil and Mexico, 1800-1914. Stanford University Press, 1997.

Industry and Underdevelopment: The Industrialization of Mexico, 1890-1940. Stanford University Press, 1989.

Working Papers:

“Do Natural Resources Fuel Authoritarianism?  A Reappraisal of the Resource Curse” (with Victor Menaldo). 

“The Political Economy of Finance,” (with Enrico Perotti). 

“Related Lending and Financial Development,” (with Robert Cull and Masami Imai).

 “Development Strategy or Endogenous Process? The Industrialization of Latin America.”

“Foreign Banks and the Mexican Economy, 1997-2007.” (with Aldo Musacchio).

Selected Recent Articles:

“Politics, Banking, and Economic Development: Evidence from New World Economies.” In Jared Diamond and James Robinson eds., History and the Social Sciences (Harvard University Press, forthcoming).

 “Why Banks Don’t Lend: The Mexican Financial System.” In Santiago Levy and Michael Walton eds.,  No Growth without Equity?  Inequality,Interests, and Competition in Mexico (World Bank/Palgrave, 2009).

“On the Importance to Economic Success of Property Rights in Finance and Innovation,” (with F. Scott Kieff and Troy A. Paredes).  Washington University Journal of Law and Policy 26 (2008) pp. 215-43.

“Banking with and Without Deposit Insurance: Mexico’s Banking Experiments, 1884-2004.” In Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Edward Kane, and Luc Laeven eds., Deposit Insurance Around the World: Issues of Design and Implementation (MIT Press, 2008), pp. 219-52.

“Related Lending, and Economic Performance: Evidence from Mexico” (with Noel Maurer). The Journal of Economic History 67:3 (Sept. 2007), pp. 551-81.

“Authoritarian Government,” in Barry Weingast and Donald Wittman eds., The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy, (Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 693-707.
 
“The Political Economy of Latin American Industrialization.” In Victor Bulmer-Thomas, John Coatsworth, and Roberto Cortes Conde eds., The Cambridge Economic History of Latin America: Volume 2, The Long Twentieth Century (Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 537-584.

 “Mexico’s Experiments with Bank Privatization and Liberalization, 1991-2003.” Journal of Banking and Finance 29:8-9 (August-September 2005), pp. 2325-2353.

“When the Law Does Not Matter: The Rise and Decline of the Mexican Oil Industry,” (with Noel Maurer and Armando Razo).  The Journal of Economic History 63:1 (March 2003), pp. 1-31.

“Banks, Financial Markets, and Industrial Development: Lessons from the Economic Histories of Brazil and Mexico.” In José Antonio Gonzalez, Vittorio Corbo, Anne O. Krueger, and Aaron Tornell eds., Macroeconomic Reform in Latin America: The Second Stage (University of Chicago Press, 2003), pp. 259-293.

"Inequality, Institutions, and Economic Growth: A Comparative Study of New World Economies Since the Sixteenth Century,” (with Stanley L. Engerman and Kenneth L. Sokoloff).  In Claude Menard ed., Institutions, Contracts, and Organizations: Perspectives fromNew Institutional Economics (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2000), pp. 108-136.

“Industrial Prosperity Under Political Instability: An Analysis of Revolutionary Mexico” (with Armando Razo).  In Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Hilton Root eds., Governing for Prosperity (Yale University Press, 2000), pp. 106-152.

"The Efficiency Consequences of Institutional Change: Financial Market Regulation and Industrial Productivity Growth in Brazil, 1866-1934."  In John H. Coatsworth and Alan M. Taylor eds., Latin America and the World Economy Since 1800 (Harvard University David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies/Harvard University Press, 1998), pp. 275-322. 

“Anything Goes: Mexico’s ‘New’ Cultural History.” Hispanic American Historical Review
79:2 (May 1999), pp. 299-319.

"Political Instability and Economic Performance: Evidence from Revolutionary Mexico" (with Armando Razo). World Politics 51 (October 1998), pp. 99-143.

“The Rate of Growth of Productivity in Mexico, 1850-1933: Evidence from the Cotton Textile Industry” (with Armando Razo). Journal of Latin American Studies 30:3 (October 1998), pp. 481-517.

“The Worst of Both Worlds: The New Cultural History of Mexico.” Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos 13:2 (Summer 1997), pp. 363-384.

“Brothers Under the Skin: Diplomatic History and International Relations” (with David M. Kennedy, and Stephen D. Krasner). International Security 22:1 (Summer 1997), pp. 34-43.

“Business Enterprise and the Great Depression in Brazil: A Study of Profits and Losses in Textile Manufacturing.”   Business History Review 66 (Summer 1992), pp. 335-363.

"Assessing the Obstacles to Industrialization: The Mexican Economy, 1830-1930," Journal of Latin American Studies 24:1 (Jan. 1992), pp. 1-32.

"Industrial Concentration and the Capital Markets: A Comparative Study of Brazil, Mexico, and the United States, 1830-1930."  The Journal of Economic History 51:3 (Sept. 1991), pp. 559-580.

"The Industrialization of Mexico, 1890 to 1940."  The Journal of Economic History 47:2 (Spring 1987), pp. 493-495.

“Industrial Prosperity Under Political Instability: An Analysis of Revolutionary Mexico” (with Armando Razo).  In Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Hilton Root eds., Governing for Prosperity (Yale University Press, 2000), pp. 106-152.

"The Efficiency Consequences of Institutional Change: Financial Market Regulation and Industrial Productivity Growth in Brazil, 1866-1934."  In John H. Coatsworth and Alan M. Taylor eds., Latin America and the World Economy Since 1800 (Harvard University David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies/Harvard University Press, 1998), pp. 275-322. 

“Anything Goes: Mexico’s ‘New’ Cultural History.” Hispanic American Historical Review
79:2 (May 1999), pp. 299-319.

"Political Instability and Economic Performance: Evidence from Revolutionary Mexico" (with Armando Razo). World Politics 51 (October 1998), pp. 99-143.

“The Rate of Growth of Productivity in Mexico, 1850-1933: Evidence from the Cotton Textile Industry” (with Armando Razo). Journal of Latin American Studies 30:3 (October 1998), pp. 481-517.

“The Worst of Both Worlds: The New Cultural History of Mexico.” Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos 13:2 (Summer 1997), pp. 363-384.

“Brothers Under the Skin: Diplomatic History and International Relations” (with David M. Kennedy, and Stephen D. Krasner). International Security 22:1 (Summer 1997), pp. 34-43.

“Business Enterprise and the Great Depression in Brazil: A Study of Profits and Losses in Textile Manufacturing.”   Business History Review 66 (Summer 1992), pp. 335-363.

"Assessing the Obstacles to Industrialization: The Mexican Economy, 1830-1930," Journal of Latin American Studies 24:1 (Jan. 1992), pp. 1-32.

"Industrial Concentration and the Capital Markets: A Comparative Study of Brazil, Mexico, and the United States, 1830-1930."  The Journal of Economic History 51:3 (Sept. 1991), pp. 559-580.

"The Industrialization of Mexico, 1890 to 1940."  The Journal of Economic History 47:2 (Spring 1987), pp. 493-495.