IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ginixx/v34y2008i4p423-441.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Path to Prosperity: The Dynamics of Freedom and Economic Development

Author

Listed:
  • Yi Feng
  • Jacek Kugler
  • Siddharth Swaminathan
  • Paul J. Zak

Abstract

We present a dynamic general equilibrium model that formalizes the political mechanisms that prompt demographic change and augment economic development. We demonstrate that in addition to well-established economic determinants, fertility decisions, human capital accumulation and economic development are altered by three fundamental political variables: political freedom, political stability, and political capacity. Using the model, we derive a set of conditions that enable poor nations to escape poverty traps. The formal deductions are supported by empirical analysis utilizing a panel of 108 countries from 1960 to 2004. Our findings demonstrate that political change triggers a demographic transition that catapults nations onto the path of sustained economic growth. Our results show that developing nations with capable, free, and stable political systems can substantially close the economic gap that divides rich nations from poor nations within a generation.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi Feng & Jacek Kugler & Siddharth Swaminathan & Paul J. Zak, 2008. "Path to Prosperity: The Dynamics of Freedom and Economic Development," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 423-441, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ginixx:v:34:y:2008:i:4:p:423-441
    DOI: 10.1080/03050620802561488
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03050620802561488
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/03050620802561488?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Travis G. Coan & Tadeusz Kugler, 2012. "All Foreign Direct Investment Is Local: Indian Provincial Politics and the Attraction of FDI," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 13(1), pages 27-50, March.
    2. John A. Doces, 2024. "Electoral proximity, political violence, and personal wellbeing: An experimental analysis in West Africa," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 373-397, March.
    3. Boussalis, Constantine & Nelson, Hal T. & Swaminathan, Siddharth, 2012. "Towards comprehensive malaria planning: The effect of government capacity, health policy, and land use variables on malaria incidence in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(7), pages 1213-1221.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:ginixx:v:34:y:2008:i:4:p:423-441. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/GINI20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.