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Democracy, Property Rights, Redistribution and Economic Growth

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Gradstein, Mark

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Abstract

Protection of property rights, as well as the burden of fiscal redistribution, have long been viewed as growth related factors. It is argued here that democratization may affect both. As the economy becomes more democratic, it creates high quality institutions such as public protection of property rights, but also becomes more responsive to fiscal demands. The analysis – which, we argue, is consistent with existing evidence - reveals that the net effect is likely to increase growth while at the same time reducing inequality. We also introduce the concept of a political bias and argue that its gradual reduction is the means to indirectly commit to high quality institutions. All this indicates, in particular, a strong link between democracy and institutional quality.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 5130.

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Date of creation: Jul 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5130

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Keywords: democracy growth

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
O11 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
P16 - Economic Systems - - Capitalist Systems - - - Political Economy of Capitalism

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