scholarly journals Democracy and Economic Development: Disentangling the Effect of Elections and Rule of Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-205
Author(s):  
Yassine Bakkar ◽  
Ali Recayi Ögcem

Abstract The article provides evidence on how the political settlements—rule of law and elections—would affect the economic development and enhances the economic growth. It empirically investigates whether democracy affects the economic convergence of countries through the quality of institutions: (i) electoral component of democracy, and (ii) rule of law parameters. Investigations differentiate between Islamic and non-Islamic countries. We find that the elections parameter has a first-order effect on economic development; such a relationship is not confirmed for Islamic countries. Rule of law also influences this relationship, but brings less efficient impact to the economic development. Our results are obtained using a sample of 167 countries over the 2010–2012 period.

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
KOSTADIS J. PAPAIOANNOU ◽  
JAN LUITEN VAN ZANDEN

AbstractThis paper contributes to the growing literature on the links between political regimes and economic development by studying the effects of years in office on economic development. The hypothesis is that dictators who stay in office for a long time period will find it increasingly difficult to carry out sound economic policies. We argue that such economic policies are the result of information asymmetries inherent to dictatorships (known as the ‘dictator dilemma’) and of changes in the personality of dictators (known as the ‘winner effect’). We call the combination of these two terms the ‘dictator effect’. We present evidence to suggest that long years in office impacts on economic growth (which is reduced), inflation (which increases) and the quality of institutions (which deteriorates). The negative effect of long years of tenure (i.e. the ‘dictator effect’) is particularly strong in young states and in Africa and the Near East.


2012 ◽  
pp. 30-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Natkhov ◽  
L. Polishchuk

Law and public administration schools in Russia vastly exceed in their popularity sciences and engineering. We relate such lopsided demand for higher education to the quality of institutions setting “rules of the game” in economy and society. Cross-country and Russian interregional data indicate the quality of institutions (rule of law, protection of property rights etc.) is negatively associated with the demand for education in law, and positively — in sciences and engineering. More gifted younger people are particularly sensitive to the quality of institutions in choosing their fields of study, and such selection is an important transmission channel between institutions and economic growth.


2008 ◽  
pp. 120-132
Author(s):  
K. Arystanbekov

Kazakhstan’s economic policy in 1996-2007, its character and the degree of responsibility, the correlation between economic development and balance of current accounts are considered in the article. Special attention is paid to the analysis of their macroeconomic efficiency. It is concluded that in conditions of high rates of economic growth in Kazahkstan in 2000-2007 the net profits of foreign investors are 10-11% of GDP every year. The tendency of negative balance of current accounts in favor of foreign investors is also analyzed.


Author(s):  
Christian Bjørnskov

This chapter provides a selective survey of the literature on social trust in public choice and political economy. It outlines the empirical evidence and discusses theoretical channels through which social trust can affect the quality of institutions and policies, and the conditions under which such mechanisms are likely to work. It also addresses the discussion of reverse causality, that is, whether good institutions or policies actively create trust. It then discusses whether trust can be created or destroyed by activist government policy or accidental institutional changes. Its main focus is on the set of theories and evidence of the association between social trust and institutions of governance.


2014 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltán Bajmócy ◽  
Judit Gébert

According to the common sense, experts, backed up by scientific methods, describe the “possible states of the world” in a value-neutral way. Then, in the political arena, delegates build on these proposals, but also consider values and interests. The present paper attempts to revise such an understanding of local economic development (LED) and argues that many of the deficiencies deriving from such a view can be remedied by deliberative participation, which is not merely a theoretical necessity, but also a practical possibility.With regard to the issue of public participation and deliberation, the paper identifies two main approaches in the LED literature: the “political” and the “apolitical”, of which the latter is mainly characterised by economic theorising. We take a closer look at the “apolitical” approach and demonstrate that in fact it is very much political. Therefore, we call for the transgression of the borderline between politics and expertise in LED, and suggest a joint democratisation of these interrelated terrains. We argue that deliberative participation is able to contribute to the quality of both the expert proposals and the working of the politics.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-202
Author(s):  
Nicolai N. Petro

The West’s focus on corruption in Ukraine is largely misplaced. The main impediment to stability and economic growth is the government’s suicidal choice to cut the country off from its main investor – Russia. This article looks at the economic and political costs of pursuing such a policy, and concludes that there is no alternative to Russian investment. Given the political and economic constraint imposed upon the European Union, the West and Russia need to work together to develop a comprehensive economic strategy that can promote Ukraine’s economic development.


2007 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Csillik ◽  
T. Tarján

The paper aims to develop a model of nonlinear economic growth — with simple assumptions — which explains both Japan’s S -shape convergence path and the UK’s declining path toward the US between 1870–2000, and the development of other countries, as well as post-war reconstruction. According to the model, progress in stock of knowledge is formed by a quadratic formula of the relative development of follower countries.The model draws on four recent theories. Firstly, Romer’s theory, which approaches a country’s level of development by using the number of its products (Romer 1990), secondly, Jones’ idea theory with a slight modification (Jones 2004), third, the theory of quality of institutions, which determines economic performance (North 1993), and finally, the theory of physical and human capital. The first part of the paper sets up the production function, the second determines the growth rate and analyses the reconstruction path, while the third draws up model forecasts.


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