Martin Paldam is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics and Management at Aarhus University.

'Martin Paldam has for a long time made major contributions to help us understand the relationship between economic growth and political institutions. His uses a large number of data skillfully and in an extraordinary way; his focus always is on the questions and issues involved. It is most welcome that his immense knowledge is now presented in this book.' Bruno S. Frey, University of Basel

• Foreword; Part I. Main Ideas: 1. Introduction; 2. Some technical points; 3. The largest historical event: the end of Soviet socialism; Part II. The Transitions of Institutions: Part IIA. The Democratic Transition: 4. Literature, data, transition path and causality; 5. The jumps model for the short run, 1960–2016; 6. Events are practically random; 7. Three pillars model for the long run, 1800–2016; Part IIB. The Transition of the Economic System: 8. Ownership preferences: the B-index; 9. Economic freedom: the F-index; Part IIC. The Transitions in Traditions and Beliefs: 10. The transition of corruption; 11. The religious transition; Part III. The Grand Transition: 12. The hump-shaped transition path for the growth rate; 13. Do improvements of institutions harm development?; 14. Conclusions.