Authoritarian family types are, against Todd's predictions, linked to increased levels of the rule of law & innovation; communitarian family types are linked to racism, low levels of the rule of law, & late industrialization, as predicted

Gutmann, J., & Voigt, S. (2021). Testing Todd: Family types and development. Journal of Institutional Economics, 1-18. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-institutional-economics/article/abs/testing-todd-family-types-and-development/08591ED67D7CBF6B79F0A06A2659C20D

Abstract: Many years ago, Emmanuel Todd came up with a classification of family types and argued that the historically prevalent family types in a society have important consequences for its economic, political, and social development. Here, we evaluate Todd's most important predictions empirically. Relying on a parsimonious model with exogenous covariates, we find mixed results. On the one hand, authoritarian family types are, in stark contrast to Todd's predictions, associated with increased levels of the rule of law and innovation. On the other hand, and in line with Todd's expectations, communitarian family types are linked to racism, low levels of the rule of law, and late industrialization. Countries in which endogamy is frequently practiced also display an expectedly high level of state fragility and weak civil society organizations.