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Democracy, size of bureaucracy, and economic growth: evidence from Russian regions

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  • Alexander Libman

Abstract

This article considers the impact of sub-national political systems on economic growth by applying the case of Russian regions from 2000 to 2004. It investigates two dimensions of the sub-national systems. First, it studies the influence of democracy on economic performance, providing evidence of a non-linear relationship between democracy and economic growth. Regions with high levels of democracy, as well as strong autocracies, perform better than hybrid regimes. Second, this article considers the influence of the size of the bureaucracy on economic outcomes and confirms the “grabbing hand” view on bureaucracy rather than the Weberian idea. Increasing the size of the bureaucracy is associated with a decline in economic performance. In addition, this article analyzes the potential interaction between these two characteristics of sub-national politics as factors of economic growth, but does not establish any robust results. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2012

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  • Alexander Libman, 2012. "Democracy, size of bureaucracy, and economic growth: evidence from Russian regions," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 1321-1352, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:43:y:2012:i:3:p:1321-1352
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-011-0525-5
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    2. Marques, Israel & Remington, Thomas & Bazavliuk, Vladimir, 2020. "Encouraging skill development: Evidence from public-private partnerships in education in Russia’s regions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    3. Alexander Libman, 2012. "Sub-national political regimes and asymmetric fiscal decentralization," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 302-336, December.
    4. Alexeev, Michael & Zakharov, Nikita, 2022. "Who profits from windfalls in oil tax revenue? Inequality, protests, and the role of corruption," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 472-492.
    5. Michael Rochlitz & Olga Masyutina & Koen Schoors & Yulia Khalikova, 2023. "Authoritarian durability, prospects of change and individual behavior: evidence from a survey experiment in Russia," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 23/1061, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    6. Alexander Libman, 2018. "Post-Soviet Trade and Institutional Quality: Subnational Evidence," Spatial Economics=Prostranstvennaya Ekonomika, Economic Research Institute, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (Khabarovsk, Russia), issue 3, pages 115-137.
    7. Salahodjaev, Raufhon, 2015. "Democracy and economic growth: the role of intelligence in cross-country regressions," MPRA Paper 65716, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Apr 2015.
    8. Hagemann, Harald & Kufenko, Vadim, 2014. "The political Kuznets curve for Russia: Income inequality, rent seeking regional elites and empirical determinants of protests during 2011/2012," Violette Reihe: Schriftenreihe des Promotionsschwerpunkts "Globalisierung und Beschäftigung" 39/2013, University of Hohenheim, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Evangelisches Studienwerk.
    9. Libman, Alexander, 2013. "Natural resources and sub-national economic performance: Does sub-national democracy matter?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 82-99.
    10. Sohag, Kazi & Gainetdinova, Anna & Mariev, Oleg, 2023. "Economic growth, institutional quality and deforestation: Evidence from Russia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    11. repec:gig:joupla:v:6:y:2014:i:1:p:3-44 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Libman, Alexander & Herrmann-Pillath, Carsten & Yadav, Gaurav, 2013. "Are human rights and economic well-being substitutes? The evidence from migration patterns across the Indian states," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 139-164.
    13. Kirill Chmel & Israel Marques II & Michael Mironyuk & Dina Rosenberg & Aleksei Turobov, 2021. "Privacy Versus Security In Trying Times: Evidence From Russian Public Opinion," HSE Working papers WP BRP 82/PS/2021, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    14. Arash Nayebyazdi, 2017. "The Relationship Between Democracy And Economic Growth In Muslim Mena Countries (Spatial Econometric Approach)," Journal of Smart Economic Growth, , vol. 2(3), pages 123-155, December.
    15. Gheorghița Dincă & Marius Sorin Dincă & Camelia Negri & Mihaela Bărbuță, 2021. "The Impact of Corruption and Rent-Seeking Behavior upon Economic Wealth in the European Union from a Public Choice Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-23, June.
    16. Libman, Alexander, 2008. "Democracy and growth: is the effect non-linear?," MPRA Paper 17795, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. E. Tsanana & X. Chapsa & C. Katrakilidis, 2016. "Is growth corrupted or bureaucratic? Panel evidence from the enlarged EU," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(33), pages 3131-3147, July.
    18. Kudrin, Alexey & Gurvich, Evsey, 2015. "A new growth model for the Russian economy1," Russian Journal of Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 30-54.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Democracy; Bureaucracy; Sub-national political systems; Economic growth; Russian regions; D72; D73; O18; O43; P26;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights

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