Filipinas: imperio, independencia y path dependence

Abstract

The concept of path dependence has been recently considered by his inventor, the economist PaulA David, as fundamental for social sciences (David, 2007). And, indeed, if we quantify the numberof studies that use it, we would not doubt its success. Nevertheless, as Reinhart Koselleck remarked,fundamental concepts stand out because they are complex and because they have been controversialand therefore questioned. Anyway, it seems clear that the core of path dependence, path dependencyor path-dependent approach is the statement that once individuals have made an initial election,they open institutional paths which are difficult to abandon because of their beneficiaries’ interests.Thus, as we shall try to prove in the following pages, the case of the Philippines seems to be a goodexample of path dependence.