ABSTRACT
Douglass North has made contributions to three areas of economics. He brought statistical methods to the study of economic history. He explained the role of institutions in regulating human behavior. And he attempted to understand the historical forces that make economies rich or poor. These three lines of research are not quite as diverse as they might first appear. North explained economic growth in terms of adopting the right institutions and has used statistical techniques to test his institutional theories about the causes of economic growth.
