in “Family Structure, Institutions, and Growth: The Origins and
Implications of Western Corporations,” stanford economist avner
greif wrote [pgs. 308-09]: “There is a vast amount of literature
that considers the importance of the family as an institution.
Little attention, however, has been given to the impact of the
family structure and its dynamics on institutions. This limits
our ability to understand distinct institutional developments —
and hence growth — in the past and present. This paper supports
this argument by highlighting the importance of the European
family structure in one of the most fundamental institutional
changes in history and reflects on its growth-related
implications. “What constituted this change was the emergence of
the economic and political corporations in late medieval Europe.
Corporations are defined as consistent with their historical
meaning: intentionally created, voluntary, interest-based, and
self-governed permanent associations. Guilds, fraternities,
universities, communes,