Jean-Philippe Platteau is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Namur, in Belgium. He has devoted his research career to studying the role of institutions in economic development and the processes of institutional change. He is the author of numerous journal articles and several books, including Islam Instrumentalized: Religion and Politics in Historical Perspective (2017, CUP), Institutions, Social Norms, and Economic Development (2000, Routledge), and (with J.M. Baland) Halting Degradation of Natural Resources: Is There a Role for Rural Communities? (1996, OUP).