Institutional Resilience in the Face of Climate Shocks: A Comparative Historical Analysis

Drawing from Castells‐Quintana et al. (2015, 2017), who review geography, institutions, and climate change in development, this research would create a new dataset of historical cases where significant climate events (droughts, floods, temperature shifts) intersected with different institutional forms. By comparing outcomes—economic, social, and governance-related—over multiple decades, the study could identify which institutional traits (adaptability, inclusiveness, legal integrity) most reliably foster sustained prosperity post-shock. This synthesis of environmental history and institutional economics would fill a gap in understanding resilience, moving the field beyond static models toward dynamic, context-sensitive theory.

References:

1. Geography, institutions and development: a review of the long-run impacts of climate change. David Castells‐Quintana, María del Pilar López-Uribe, T. McDermott (2017).
2. Climate change and the geographical and institutional drivers of economic development. David Castells‐Quintana, María del Pilar López-Uribe, T. McDermott (2015).