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Do Rich Countries Choose Better Governments?

Author

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  • Azariadis Costas

    (UCLA)

  • Lahiri Amartya

    (UCLA)

Abstract

We analyze public investment in social infrastructure using a two-period model in which a government must intermediate all infrastructure investment. Voters choose a government from two alternative types, high quality and low quality. A high quality government obtains higher returns on infrastructure but also demands a bigger consumption payoff for intermediating investment, implying higher taxes for the voting public. We find that these intermediation costs cause threshold effects in the electoral process -- closed economies above a critical level of first period income elect high quality governments while economies below that level elect low quality ones. Thresholds vanish when voters can borrow abroad; capital mobility reduces the current consumption cost of infrastructure investment and favors better quality governments.

Suggested Citation

  • Azariadis Costas & Lahiri Amartya, 2002. "Do Rich Countries Choose Better Governments?," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-39, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejmac:v:contributions.2:y:2002:i:1:n:4
    DOI: 10.2202/1534-6005.1051
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    Cited by:

    1. Ahmet Faruk AYSAN & Mustapha Kamel NABLI & Marie‐Ange VÉGANZONÈS‐VAROUDAKIS, 2007. "Governance Institutions And Private Investment: An Application To The Middle East And North Africa," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 45(3), pages 339-377, September.
    2. Aysan, Ahmet Faruk, 2005. "The Role of Efficiency of Redistributive Institutions on Redistribution: An Empirical Assessment," MPRA Paper 17773, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Ahmet Faruk Aysan & M-A Veganzones-Varoudakis, 2007. "How Do Political and Governance Institutions Affect Private Investment Decisions? An Application to the Middle East and North Africa," Working Papers 2007/05, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    4. Aysan, Ahmet Faruk & Nabli, Mustapha Kamel & Veganzones-Varoudakis, Marie-Ange, 2006. "Governance and private investment in the Middle East and North Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3934, The World Bank.
    5. Ahmet Faruk Aysan & Mustapha Kamel Nabli & Marie-Ange Véganzonès–Varoudakis, 2008. "The Role of Governance Institutions in Private Investment Decisions: The Case of Middle East and North Africa," Working Papers 384, Economic Research Forum, revised 01 Jan 2008.

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