Which of the Following Would Be Considered an Empirical Critique

Which of the following would be considered an empirical critique of a theory?

A) A theory says that institutional quality predicts economic growth, but a study finds that by standard measures of institutional quality, there is no independent effect once you control for resource endowments and international ties.
B) A theory says that institutional quality predicts economic growth, but a study argues that this can't be true because institutional quality is far too vague of an idea.
C) A theory says that institutional quality predicts economic growth, but a study argues that this is unknown since we don't know which kinds of institutions might be important.
D) A theory says that institutional quality predicts economic growth, but a study argues that all cultures are so different that we cannot compare them.