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Shades of red and blue: Political ideology and sustainable development

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  • Toke S Aidt
  • Vitor Castro
  • Rodrigo Martins

Abstract

We study the effect of political ideology on sustainable development, measured as investment in genuine wealth, in a dynamic panel of 79 countries between 1981 and 2013. We find that a switch from a left-wing or centrist government to a right-wing government has a robust positive and statistically significant effect on investment in genuine wealth. We find no evidence of opportunistic cycles in these investments.

Suggested Citation

  • Toke S Aidt & Vitor Castro & Rodrigo Martins, 2016. "Shades of red and blue: Political ideology and sustainable development," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1635, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:1635
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Potrafke, Niklas, 2017. "Partisan politics: The empirical evidence from OECD panel studies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 712-750.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sustainable development; Political ideology; Genuine investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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