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Measuring Mancur Olson: What is the Influence of Culture, Institutions and Policies on Economic Development?

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  • Tomáš Evan
  • Ilya Bolotov

Abstract

Mancur Olson wrote his influential study Big Bills Left on the Sidewalk: Why Some Countries are Rich, and Others Poor in 1996. In his paper, Olson claimed that the differ-ences in economic development between countries are caused by only two factors: institutions and policies on the one hand and culture on the other. We attempt to test his conjecture using econometric modelling, combining and comparing it with a broadly defined orthodox production function in an indirect neoclassical notation (Solow-Minhas-Arrow-Chenery's SMAC framework). The "pseudo-production function" obtained is econometrically sound and of explanatory power similar to models including economic variables, although we find strong evidence of interdependence between capital-labour share and institutions and policies and culture. We consider the test, performed on panel data from 154 countries over five-year averages from 1980-2014, to be robust and consistent with Olson's ideas.

Suggested Citation

  • Tomáš Evan & Ilya Bolotov, 2021. "Measuring Mancur Olson: What is the Influence of Culture, Institutions and Policies on Economic Development?," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2021(3), pages 290-315.
    • Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2021:y:2021:i:3:id:770:p:290-315
    DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.770
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vladim'ir Hol'y & Tom'av{s} Evan, 2021. "The Role of a Nation's Culture in the Country's Governance: Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Papers 2102.05411, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2021.
    2. Vladimír Holý & Tomáš Evan, 2022. "The role of a nation’s culture in the country’s governance: Stochastic frontier analysis," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 30(2), pages 507-520, June.
    3. Tom'av{s} Evan & Vladim'ir Hol'y, 2021. "Cultural Diversity and Its Impact on Governance," Papers 2112.11563, arXiv.org.
    4. Saif Ullah & Atta Ullah & Mubasher Zaman, 2024. "Nexus of governance, macroeconomic conditions, and financial stability of banks: a comparison of developed and emerging countries," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-38, December.
    5. Evan, Tomáš & Holý, Vladimír, 2023. "Cultural diversity and its impact on governance," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic development; Olson' conjecture; institutions and policies; cultural values; Hofstede cultural frameworks; panel data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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