IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/116277.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The determinants of economic institutions and the knock-on effects on GDP per capita

Author

Listed:
  • Castro Souza Junior, Jose Ronaldo
  • Gross, Daniel
  • Figueiredo, Lizia

Abstract

There have been only a small number of empirical studies assessing the determinants of economic institutions despite the development of several notable theories regarding their origins and their impact on economic development. In this article, we identify the key determinants of economic institutions highlighted in the theoretical literature and select empirical proxies that best represent them while also ensuring as large a sample of countries as possible. With economic institutions as the dependent variable, we use a dynamic panel data model which allows us to deal with endogeneity problems. Our results indicate that democratic political institutions, years of schooling and political regime duration have a positive and statistically significant effect, and income inequality has a negative and statistically significant effect on the quality of economic institutions. Our main results are robust to removing certain groups of countries from the sample. We also use an interaction term to evaluate if regime duration has a stronger effect on the quality of economic institutions in autocracies than democracies, however the results we found are not robust to the two democratic political institutions data sources used in this paper. In the second part of the article, we use the same dynamic panel data model but with GDP per capita as the dependent variable. When we control for the quality of economic institutions, the association between democratic political institutions and GDP per capita switches from positive to negative. This and other evidence support our hypothesis that democratic political institutions have a positive indirect effect on per capita income via economic institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Castro Souza Junior, Jose Ronaldo & Gross, Daniel & Figueiredo, Lizia, 2023. "The determinants of economic institutions and the knock-on effects on GDP per capita," MPRA Paper 116277, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:116277
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/116277/1/MPRA_paper_116277.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Cohen & Marcelo Soto, 2007. "Growth and human capital: good data, good results," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 51-76, March.
    2. Keefer, Philip & Knack, Stephen, 2002. "Polarization, Politics and Property Rights: Links between Inequality and Growth," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 111(1-2), pages 127-154, March.
    3. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2008. "Persistence of Power, Elites, and Institutions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 267-293, March.
    4. Sunde, Uwe & Cervellati, Matteo & Fortunato, Piergiuseppe, 2008. "Are all democracies equally good? The role of interactions between political environment and inequality for rule of law," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 552-556, June.
    5. Nadezhda V. Baryshnikova & Ngoc T.A. Pham & Maria M. Wihardja, 2016. "Does Political and Economic Inequality Affect Institutional Quality?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 92(297), pages 190-208, June.
    6. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    7. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    8. Cohen, Daniel & Leker, Laura, 2014. "Health and Education: Another Look with the Proper Data," CEPR Discussion Papers 9940, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    10. Gutmann, Jerg & Voigt, Stefan, 2018. "The rule of law: Measurement and deep roots," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 68-82.
    11. Clague, Christopher & Keefer, Philip & Knack, Stephen & Olson, Mancur, 1996. "Property and Contract Rights in Autocracies and Democracies," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 243-276, June.
    12. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    13. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    14. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson, 2005. "Unbundling Institutions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(5), pages 949-995, October.
    15. Thomas, Vinod & Wang, Yan & Fan, Xibo, 2001. "Measuring education inequality - Gini coefficients of education," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2525, The World Bank.
    16. Arellano, Manuel, 2003. "Panel Data Econometrics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199245291.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Petra Sauer & Martin Zagler, 2014. "(In)equality in Education and Economic Development," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S2), pages 353-379, November.
    2. Kotschy, Rainer & Sunde, Uwe, 2017. "Democracy, inequality, and institutional quality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 209-228.
    3. Nadezhda V. Baryshnikova & Ngoc T.A. Pham & Maria M. Wihardja, 2016. "Does Political and Economic Inequality Affect Institutional Quality?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 92(297), pages 190-208, June.
    4. Nadir Altinok & Claude Diebolt, 2024. "Cliometrics of learning-adjusted years of schooling: evidence from a new dataset," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 18(3), pages 691-764, September.
    5. de Mendonça, Helder Ferreira & Barcelos, Vívian Íris, 2015. "Securitization and credit risk: Empirical evidence from an emerging economy," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 12-28.
    6. Hartwig, Jochen, 2014. "Testing the Uzawa–Lucas model with OECD data," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 144-156.
    7. Kunieda, Takuma & Okada, Keisuke & Shibata, Akihisa, 2014. "Finance And Inequality: How Does Globalization Change Their Relationship?," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 1091-1128, July.
    8. de Mendonça, Helder Ferreira & Tiberto, Bruno Pires, 2024. "Are prudent monetary and fiscal policy drivers of FDI inflows?," Latin American Journal of Central Banking (previously Monetaria), Elsevier, vol. 5(1).
    9. Slesman, Ly & Baharumshah, Ahmad Zubaidi & Ra'ees, Wahabuddin, 2015. "Institutional infrastructure and economic growth in member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 214-226.
    10. Bruno Pires Tiberto & Francisco Fernando Viana Ferreira, 2024. "The Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Cross-Border Banking Flows: comparative analysis between advanced and emerging market economies," Working Papers Series 598, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    11. Gabriel Caldas Montes & Diego S. P. Oliveira & Helder Ferreira Mendonça, 2016. "Sovereign Credit Ratings in Developing Economies: New Empirical Assessment," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 382-397, October.
    12. Diego Silveira Pacheco De Oliveira & Gabriel Caldas Montes, 2016. "Beyond The Macroeconomic Determinants Of Sovereign Credit Ratings In Developing Economies: A Panel Data Analysis Considering Different Dimensions," Anais do XLIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 43rd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 049, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    13. Muinelo-Gallo, Leonel, 2022. "Business cycles and redistribution: The role of government quality," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(4).
    14. Andrea Filippetti & Agnese Sacchi, 2016. "Decentralization and economic growth reconsidered: The role of regional authority," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(8), pages 1793-1824, December.
    15. Bruno Pires Tiberto & Helder Ferreira de Mendonça, 2023. "Effects of Sustainable Monetary and Fiscal Policy on FDI Inflows to EMDE Countries," Working Papers Series 575, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    16. de Mendonça, Helder Ferreira & Tiberto, Bruno Pires, 2017. "Effect of credibility and exchange rate pass-through on inflation: An assessment for developing countries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 196-244.
    17. Glawe, Linda & Wagner, Helmut, 2022. "Is schooling the same as learning? – The impact of the learning-adjusted years of schooling on growth in a dynamic panel data framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    18. Sumbal Fatima & Bateer Chen & Muhammad Ramzan & Qamar Abbas, 2020. "The Nexus Between Trade Openness and GDP Growth: Analyzing the Role of Human Capital Accumulation," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, November.
    19. Bahar Bayraktar-Sağlam, 2016. "The Stages of Human Capital and Economic Growth: Does the Direction of Causality Matter for the Rich and the Poor?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 243-302, May.
    20. Gabriel Caldas Montes & Diego Silveira Pacheco Oliveira, 2019. "Central bank transparency and sovereign risk ratings: a panel data approach," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 417-433, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic institutions; political institutions; law and economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling
    • K1 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:pra:mprapa:116277. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.