The alignment of formal and informal institutions.
A wealthy (yet undeveloped) student studies at a posh university with the goal of acquiring a degree.
A possible example thereof would be to copy the constitution of any high-income country in the West, say France, and apply it to an African state, Mauritania, for instance.
One aspect of the puzzle of institutions and development is the distinction between formal and informal institutions.
By replacing a country’s constitution one changes the formal institutions, but what if the informal institutions do not align with the formal institutions?
At his new university buying off teachers is formally forbidden.
However, as indicated, the teachers are identical to his former teachers and therefore are willing to accept a bribe.
Not if accepting bribes is an informal institutions in the school.
Teachers could receive informal sanctioning when they do not accept the bribe.
However, copying written rules and applying them to a different environment is unlikely to be effective and may have perverse effect when formal institutions do not fit their new (informal institutional) environment.