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Democracy: A Determinant Factor in Reducing Inflation

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  • Mohamed Fenira

    (University of Economic Sciences and Management of Nabeul, Tunisia)

Abstract

The economic literature has often explained the causes of macroeconomic instability by purely economic arguments. Monetary and fiscal policies have been considered as the exclusive tools for ensuring macroeconomic stability and reducing inflation. The purpose of this paper is to extend the range of explanatory factors in explaining macroeconomic pathologies and to demonstrate that democracy is an important instrument in reducing inflation. The paper firstly provides a critical analysis to the median voter theory, which claims the existence of a positive relationship between democracy and inflation, by relating the Tunisian case study and then presents a literature review that sustains our point of view. The paper finally develops an empirical study that measures the impact of democracy on inflation under a heterogeneous sample of countries and a sample consisting only of developing countries, for the period 1996-2012. The estimation results show that democracy is statistically significant in reducing inflation in both samples.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohamed Fenira, 2014. "Democracy: A Determinant Factor in Reducing Inflation," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 4(2), pages 363-375.
    • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ1:2014-02-13
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. Nyoni, Thabani & Mutongi, Chipo & Nyoni, Munyaradzi & Hamadziripi, Oscar Hapanyengwi, 2019. "Understanding inflation dynamics in the Kingdom of Eswatini: a univariate approach," MPRA Paper 93979, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    14. Mohamed Fenira, 2015. "Trade Openness and Growth in Developing Countries: An Analysis of the Relationship after Comparing Trade Indicators," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 5(3), pages 468-482, March.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Democracy; Median voter theory; Kaufmann; Kraay and Mastruzzi (2012) democracy index; inflation; macroeconomic stabilization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy

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