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Institutional Quality Mediates the Effect of Human Capital on Economic Performance

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  • Jonathon Adams-Kane
  • Jamus Jerome Lim

Abstract

This paper considers the relationship between institutional quality, educational outcomes, and economic performance. More specifically, it seeks to establish the linkages by which government effectiveness affects per capita income, via its mediating effect on human capital formation. The empirical approach adopts a two-stage strategy that estimates national-level educational production functions that include government effectiveness as a covariate, and then uses these estimates as instruments for human capital in cross-country regressions of per capita income. The results identify a significant and positive effect of human capital on per capita income levels, and partially resolves the inconsistency between macro- and micro-level studies of the effect of human capital on income. The results also remain robust to alternative specifications, extension to a panel setting, subsamples of the data, and fully endogenous institutions.
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  • Jonathon Adams-Kane & Jamus Jerome Lim, 2016. "Institutional Quality Mediates the Effect of Human Capital on Economic Performance," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 426-442, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:20:y:2016:i:2:p:426-442
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/rode.12236
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    2. Rehman, Faheem Ur & Islam, Md. Monirul & Raza, Syed Ali, 2023. "Does disaggregate energy consumption matter to export sophistication and diversification in OECD countries? A robust panel model analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 274-284.
    3. Altinok, Nadir & Aydemir, Abdurrahman, 2017. "Does one size fit all? The impact of cognitive skills on economic growth," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 176-190.
    4. Idrissa Ouedraogo & Henri Ngoa Tabi & Henri Atangana Ondoa, 2020. "Effets de la qualité des institutions sur l'éducation en Afrique," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(S1), pages 32-44, November.
    5. Ouedraogo, Idrissa & Ngoa Tabi, Henri & Atangana Ondoa, Henri & Jiya, Alex Nester, 2022. "Institutional quality and human capital development in Africa," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(1).
    6. Joseph Pasky Ngameni & Fabrice Stephane Nemaleu Happy & Anatole Tchounga, 2024. "Human capital formation and the role of institutions in Africa," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(7), pages 1-20, July.
    7. Afzal, Ayesha & Hasnaoui, Jamila & Noor, Ramsha & Banerjee, Arindam, 2023. "Is saving the non-renewable resources worthwhile? Evidence of paradox of plenty on human capital development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Ghosh, Saibal, 2021. "How important is trust in driving financial inclusion?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).
    9. Alma Mačiulytė-Šniukienė & Mindaugas Butkus & Renata Macaitienė & Vida Davidavičienė, 2022. "Infrastructure and EU Regional Convergence: What Policy Implications Does Non-Linearity Bring?," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, December.
    10. Francesco Pasimeni & Paolo Pasimeni, 2016. "An Institutional Analysis of the Europe 2020 Strategy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 1021-1038, July.
    11. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Gozgor, Giray & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2019. "Human capital and export diversification as new determinants of energy demand in the United States," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 335-349.
    12. Luciano Nakabashi & Ana Elisa Pereira, 2023. "Factors of production, productivity, institutions, and development: Evidence from Brazil," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 1034-1055, May.
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    14. Eric Yaw Naminse & Jincai Zhuang, 2018. "Does farmer entrepreneurship alleviate rural poverty in China? Evidence from Guangxi Province," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-18, March.

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