From the beginning, the growth and

From the beginning, the growth and institutions research recognized that growth may itself
lead to better institutions. One way in which this literature tried to address this problem is
instrumental variables. Mauro (1995) already recognizes these issues, and uses ethnolinguistic
fractionalization of the population as an instrument for corruption. Hall and Jones (1999) use
ICRG measures of institutional quality, but instrument them using “distance from the equator and
the extent to which the primary languages of Western Europe are spoken today” (p. 110).
Researchers also tried to take advantage of the fact that the European expansion influenced the
countries being conquered and colonized. La Porta et al. (1997, 1998, 1999) take advantage of this
colonial experiment by looking at legal transplantation. They argue that Europeans brought their
legal systems into the countries they conquered or colonized, and that therefore legal origin can be
used as an instrument for the structure of various laws.