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Measuring institutional quality in ancient Athens

Bergh, Andreas LU and Lyttkens, Carl Hampus LU orcid (2014) In Journal of Institutional Economics 10(2). p.279-310
Abstract
We use the Economic Freedom Index to characterize the institutions of the Athenian city-state in the fourth century BCE. It has been shown that ancient Greece witnessed improved living conditions for an extended period of time. Athens in the fourth century appears to have fared particularly well. We find that economic freedom in ancient Athens is on level with the highest ranked modern economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore. With the exception of the position of women and slaves, Athens scores high in almost every dimension of economic freedom. Trade is probably highly important even by current standards. As studies of contemporary societies suggest that institutional quality is probably an important determinant of economic growth, it... (More)
We use the Economic Freedom Index to characterize the institutions of the Athenian city-state in the fourth century BCE. It has been shown that ancient Greece witnessed improved living conditions for an extended period of time. Athens in the fourth century appears to have fared particularly well. We find that economic freedom in ancient Athens is on level with the highest ranked modern economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore. With the exception of the position of women and slaves, Athens scores high in almost every dimension of economic freedom. Trade is probably highly important even by current standards. As studies of contemporary societies suggest that institutional quality is probably an important determinant of economic growth, it may also have been one factor in the relative material success of the Athenians. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Institutional Economics
volume
10
issue
2
pages
279 - 310
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • wos:000339552300005
  • scopus:84899482740
ISSN
1744-1382
DOI
10.1017/S174413741300043X
project
The Economics of Ancient Greece
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0699b3bf-4854-48f2-8a08-185bc0652981 (old id 4216134)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:27:24
date last changed
2023-11-09 21:22:21
@article{0699b3bf-4854-48f2-8a08-185bc0652981,
  abstract     = {{We use the Economic Freedom Index to characterize the institutions of the Athenian city-state in the fourth century BCE. It has been shown that ancient Greece witnessed improved living conditions for an extended period of time. Athens in the fourth century appears to have fared particularly well. We find that economic freedom in ancient Athens is on level with the highest ranked modern economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore. With the exception of the position of women and slaves, Athens scores high in almost every dimension of economic freedom. Trade is probably highly important even by current standards. As studies of contemporary societies suggest that institutional quality is probably an important determinant of economic growth, it may also have been one factor in the relative material success of the Athenians.}},
  author       = {{Bergh, Andreas and Lyttkens, Carl Hampus}},
  issn         = {{1744-1382}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{279--310}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Institutional Economics}},
  title        = {{Measuring institutional quality in ancient Athens}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/1858971/4779335.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/S174413741300043X}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}