Democracy and prosperity in two decades of transition1

Abstract

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Has Assistance from USAID been Successful for Democratization? Evidence from the Transition Economies of Eastern Europe and Eurasia

“…Heckelman (2010a) shows that broad democracy indexes created by Freedom House are positively correlated with economic growth in transition economies, but the effects can differ by democracy category. Apolte (2010) also shows that an increase in the level of democracy in transition economies turns out to be growth enhancing. Further, the estimated effect is stronger the lower is the initial level of democracy.…”

Democracy and Economic Growth:the Case of Moldova

“…The authors conclude that although economic freedom positively affects economic performance in transition economies, political freedom is neutral for economic growth. Apolte (2011), using data on democracy, liberalization, and income for a sample of 25 transition economies for the period 1991-2011 found that only a moderate level of democratization has a significant positive effect on economic growth, while the acceleration of democratization leads to a decrease in growth rates. The author explains this ambiguous result by the institutional features of different countries in which formal democratic structures are embedded or on which they are superimposed.…”

“…Despite a large body of theoretical and empirical literature examining the issue, no scientific consensus has been reached. In addition, it has not been achieved in studies concerning transition countries [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Researchers who use different approaches and methods in assessing this phenomenon sometimes come to opposite conclusions.…”

Machine Learning Indices, Political Institutions, and Economic Development

“…The results of more recent-and econometrically more sophisticated studies-are less diverse, but still not unambiguous. Acemoglu et al (2019), Flachaire et al (2014), Gründler and Krieger (2016), Tabellini (2008, 2009), Knutsen (2015), Madsen et al (2015), and Papaioannou and Siourounis (2008) find that democracy positively affects economic growth, whereas Apolte (2011), Aisen and Veiga (2013), and Murtin and Wacziarg (2014) find that political regimes do not affect economic growth.…”