Этот аргумент получил всестороннее развитие в работе: White Colin. Russia and America: The Roots of Economic Divergence. — London: Croom Helm, 1987, особенно part 2; cm. также: Gatrell Peter. Poor Russia: Environment and Government in the Long-Run Economic History of Russia // Reinterpreting Russia / Ed. by Geoffrey Hosking and Robert Service. — London: Edward Arnold, 1999. - P. 89–106.