Democracy and Economic Growth
A Meta‐Analysis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6232576 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hristos Doucouliagos (0000-0001-5269-3556, Deakin University), Mehmet Ali Ulubaşoğlu, Mehmet Ulubaşoğlu (0000-0003-3055-5755, Deakin University) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 61-83 |
| Publication date | 2008-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00299.x |
| OpenAlex | W1956940534 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 147 |
| References cited | 155 |
Despite a sizeable theoretical and empirical literature, no firm conclusions have been drawn regarding the impact of political democracy on economic growth. This article challenges the consensus of an inconclusive relationship through a quantitative assessment of the democracy‐growth literature. It applies meta‐regression analysis to the population of 483 estimates derived from 84 studies on democracy and growth. Using traditional meta‐analysis estimators, the bootstrap, and Fixed and Random Effects meta‐regression models, it derives several robust conclusions. Taking all the available published evidence together, it concludes that democracy does not have a direct impact on economic growth. However, democracy has robust, significant, and positive indirect effects through higher human capital, lower inflation, lower political instability, and higher levels of economic freedom. Democracies may also be associated with larger governments and less free international trade. There also appear to be country‐ and region‐specific democracy‐growth effects. Overall, democracy's net effect on the economy does not seem to be detrimental
Democracy · Development economics · Econometrics · Economic freedom · Economic growth · Economics · Estimator · Human capital · Inflation (cosmology · Market economy · Meta-analysis · Political instability · Political science · Politics · Regression analysis · Statistics · Corruption and Economic Development · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Law · Mathematics
Norms, self-interest and effectiveness
Demopolis
Citizen Support for Democratic and Autocratic Regimes
Democracy and growth
Guilty as charged? Human well-being and the unsung relevance of political science
Jumps into Democracy
The Effects of Human Rights on Economic Growth, 1965 to 2010
Civil Freedoms or Political Competition
Does economic globalisation promote economic growth? A meta‐analysis
Role of governance index, democracy, industrialization, and urbanization on environmental sustainability of BRICS countries
Contextual factors influencing tourism-led growth
Tourism and income inequality in sub-Saharan African countries
Military dictatorship and the provision of public goods
How often do dictators have positive economic effects? Global evidence, 1858–2010
The impact of financial inclusion initiatives
Democracy, commodity price booms, and infant mortality
A multidimensional taxonomy of developmental States
Do internet and mobile usage affect the democracy-economic growth nexus in Africa
Less democracy, more inequality
The democratization process
Income, growth, and democracy looking for the main causal directions in the nexus
Is democracy good for growth? — Development at political transition time matters
Does democracy cause growth? A meta-analysis (of 2000 regressions)
Rewarding good political behavior
Economic freedom vs. egalitarianism
Political development and economic performance in the last 200 years
Establishing political impact assessment
Economic Evaluations, Economic Freedom, and Democratic Satisfaction in Africa
Governance or Poverty Reduction? Assessing Budget Support in Nicaragua
Power and the Vote
Demopolis
The Grand Pattern of Development and the Transition of Institutions
One Road to Riches
Everyday Choices
A Meta‐Analysis of Campaign Contributions' Impact on Roll Call Voting
Democracy and Firm Productivity
OECD Ülkelerinde Ekonomik Büyüme ve Demokrasi İlişkisi
Economic Development Matters
The impact of democracy on people's well‐being through enhanced autonomy
An Economic Philosophy of Production, Work and Consumption
O que é, para que serve e como se faz uma meta-análise
Lead Exposure in Low and Middle-Income Countries
Economic integration and intra-trade between China and South Asia
An approach to a country's innovation considering cultural, economic, and social conditions
Cross-national differences in entrepreneurial activity
Income-generating Effects of Biofuel Policies
The Distribution of Executive Power and Corruption
West Asia and North Africa
Policy inclusiveness and niche development
Politicians, Electoral Integrity, and Electoral Management Bodies
Do anti-poverty policies sway voters? Evidence from a meta-analysis of Conditional Cash Transfers
Democracy and economic growth
Democracy, consumption, and growth in sub-Saharan Africa
Reanalysing the link between democracy and economic development
Institutions and economic growth in Africa
Political Regimes and Climate Change
The impact of electoral rules on manufacturing industries
Democracy and Stock Market Returns
Determinants of Growth in Fast‐Developing Countries
The impact of democracy on peace in Africa
Limitation Clauses and Constitutional Transformation
Systematic Reviews in Political Science
The significance of success
The Role of Liberal Democracy and Policy Uncertainty in Shaping Economic Growth
Considering a Chinese Sphere of Influence
Environmental Challenges and Political Regime Transition
Synthesize This
The Failure of Instrumental Arguments for a Human Right to Democracy
Natural disasters and economic growth
Foreign intervention, executive corruption, and economic growth in Afghanistan
The Democratic Transition
Siting the Death Penalty Internationally
An Integrative Institutional Framework of the Canada–US Business Performance Gap
Do Democracies Provide Better Education? Revisiting the Democracy–Human Capital Link
The poverty effect of democratization
Democracy, State Capacity, and Economic Growth
Democracy, History, and Economic Performance
An Empirical Analysis of Political Dynasties in the 15th Philippine Congress
War, opium and economic growth in Afghanistan
Rule of law and economic performance
The European Commission’s implementation of budget support and the Governance Incentive Tranche in Ethiopia
Growth and distribution endogenously determined
Question-Order Effect in the Study of Satisfaction with Democracy
Political regime change, economic liberalization and growth accelerations
Seeing the forest through the trees
Intellectual foundations of public choice, the forest from the trees
Positive constitutional economics II—a survey of recent developments
Revolutionary Constitutions
Is tolerance good or bad for growth
The political economy of Solon’s law against neutrality in civil wars
Institutional interactions and economic growth
When Is Democracy Better for Economic Performance and when Is It Not
Does Democracy Matter for Lifespan Inequalities? Regime Type and Premature Mortality by Sex
International Trade as a Limiting Factor in Democratization
The short-run relationship between inequality and growth
To Equality
Democracy Does Cause Growth
Constitutional Political Economy and the Nature and Effects of Rights
Will Democratization Save the Climate? An Entropy-Balanced, Random Slope Study
Euroscepticism
The Commonwealth of Oceana and A System of Politics
An Introduction to the Bootstrap
Methods of Meta-Analysis
Methods of Meta-Analysis
Macroeconomic determinants of growth
Income Inequality is not Harmful for Growth
Determinants of Long-Term Growth
Does Trade Cause Growth?
Confusion of confidence intervals and credibility intervals in meta-analysis.
Controlling the risk of spurious findings from meta‐regression
Civil Liberties, Democracy, and the Performance of Government Projects
Ethnicity, Politics and Economic Performance
The law and economics of self-dealing
Why Did the West Extend the Franchise? Democracy, Inequality, and Growth in Historical Perspective
Political instability and economic growth
Democracy and growth
Aid, Growth and Democracy
Where Did All the Growth Go? External Shocks, Social Conflict, and Growth Collapses
Democracies Pay Higher Wages
An empirical analysis of cross-national economic growth, 1951–1980
Estimating the Demand for a New Technology
The Institutional Environment for Economic Growth
Growth and Institutions
How democracy affects growth
Multiple regimes and cross‐country growth behaviour
Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance
Institutions and Economic Performance
Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries
Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance
Political Order in Changing Societies
Democracy and Development
Polyarchy
Monetary co‐operation and economic growth in Africa
Democracy, property rights and economic growth
National Political Development
Political Regimes and Economic Growth
The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society
Military Organization and Society
A Reassessment of the Relationship Between Inequality and Growth
Governance Matters III
Corruption and Economic Growth
Growth, income distribution, and democracy
The Political Economy of Growth
Inequality and Growth in a Panel of Countries
Economic freedom and economic growth
Democracy, Volatility, and Economic Development
Institutions for High-Quality Growth
Symposium on Democracy and Development
Wheat From Chaff
The Effects of Democracy on Economic Growth and Inequality
Constitutional Choice and Prosperity
Trade Liberalization and Economic Growth in Fiji. An Empirical Assessment Using the ARDL Approach
Political economy, growth and convergence in less-developed countries
Development Performance and the Institutions of Governance
Effective Aid
Private credit in 129 countries☆
Education, democracy and growth
Institutions, infrastructure, and economic growth
Democracy's Victory and Crisis
Political sources of growth
Authoritarian versus nonauthoritarian approaches to economic development
Liberty and development
Is there a relationship between economic conditions and political structure
Democracy, Government Spending, and Economic Growth
New evidence on the relationship between democracy and economic growth
The political economy of development
Democracy’s effect on economic growth
Sociological explanations of economic growth
The political economy of development
Foreign aid and the economic growth of developing countries (LDCs)
Democracy and economic development
Political Democracy
A Meta‐Analysis of Campaign Contributions' Impact on Roll Call Voting
Democracy and Growth
Tertiary Education and Economic Growth
The Institutional Framework and Economic Development
Determinants of Democracy
Directly Unproductive, Profit-Seeking (DUP) Activities
Why Do More Open Economies Have Bigger Governments
Authoritarian versus Nonauthoritarian Approaches to Economic Development
Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict
The simultaneous evolution of growth and inequality
Media Bias in Presidential Elections
Response-Order Effects and the Early Gallup Split-Ballots
Democracy and Economic Crisis
What Makes Democracies Endure
Left–right party ideology and government policies
Democracy and Economic Growth
Prescribing Strong Economic Medicine
The Invisible Hand of Democracy
Democracy and Macroeconomic Performance in Underdeveloped Countries
The Impact of Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Rule on Economic Growth
Modernization and Political Change
ThePoliticalEconomy of Growth
Democracy and National Economic Performance
Gradations of Democracy? Empirical Tests of Alternative Conceptualizations
Democracy, Political Stability and Economic Growth
Political Democracy and Economic Growth
Empirical Linkages Between Democracy and Economic Growth
Demokratie, Institutionen und ökonomische Entwicklung
| Unique citing works | 147 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 7 |
| Citation span | 2005 - 2026 (22) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 145 |