Democracy and Development: The Devil in the Details / Torsten Persson, Guido Tabellini.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Persson, Torsten.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Tabellini, Guido.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w11993.

NBER working paper series no. w11993

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2006.

Summary:

Does democracy promote economic development? We review recent attempts to address this question, which exploit the within-country variation associated with historical transitions in and out of democracy. The answer is positive, but depends - in a subtle way - on the details of democratic reforms. First, democratizations and economic liberalizations in isolation each induce growth accelerations, but countries liberalizing their economy before extending political rights do better than those carrying out the opposite sequence. Second, different forms of democratic government and different electoral systems lead to different fiscal trade policies: this might explain why new presidential democracies grow faster than new parliamentary democracies. Third, it is important to distinguish between expected and actual political reforms: expectations of regime change have an independent effect on growth, and taking expectations into account helps identify a stronger growth effect of democracy.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2006.