Foreign Aided: Why Democratization Brings Growth When Democracy Does Not

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Abstract

There is an unresolved puzzle in research on the economics of democracy: While there is consensus that democracy is not generally associated with higher rates of economic growth, a recent literature has found that democratization is followed by growth. Why should becoming a democracy bring growth if being one does not? This article shows that the positive growth effect of democratization is accounted for by a substantial and immediate influx of foreign aid into new democracies. The domestic regime characteristics of neither democracy nor democratization therefore seems to bring growth. The importance of aid in explaining the democratization- growth nexus underscores that democratizations do not occur in vacuum and cannot be fully understood from internal factors alone.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftBritish Journal of Political Science
Vol/bind45
Udgave nummer1
Sider (fra-til)53-71
ISSN0007-1234
DOI
StatusUdgivet - jan. 2015

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