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The democratic transition

Author

Listed:
  • Fabrice Murtin

    (Economics department - MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Romain Wacziarg

    (UCLA Anderson School of Management)

Abstract

Over the last two centuries, many countries experienced regime transitions toward democracy. We document this democratic transition over a long time horizon. We use historical time series of income, education and democracy levels from 1870 to 2000 to explore the economic factors associated with rising levels of democracy. We find that primary schooling, and to a weaker extent per capita income levels, are strong determinants of the quality of political institutions. We find little evidence of causality running the other way, from democracy to income or education.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabrice Murtin & Romain Wacziarg, 2014. "The democratic transition," Post-Print hal-03460288, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03460288
    DOI: 10.1007/s10887-013-9100-6
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03460288
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Democracy; Modernization; Human Capital; GMM;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N10 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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