Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/121852 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy Working Papers No. 0106
Publisher: 
Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, Moscow
Abstract: 
In this paper we explore current understandings of the influence of political rights, among historical legacies, on economic development. We construct variables for selected political regimes for 1811-2010. We find significant association between individual rights and economic growth. We argue that current understanding of political regimes supportive of growth (Acemoglu, etc), should parse the concept of property rights to include the protection of the individual in their focus on private property rights protection, alone, respected in various forms of government, are insufficient; what matters is the security of individuals from arbitrary arrest, regardless of “type of regime”. Discretionary rights of rulers or democratic governments to arrest citizens undermines the protection of private property rights and other attributes classically given to democratic foundations of economic growth, for example, free press, freedom of the exercise of religious belief. We suggest, as a research agenda, that the power of the politically competitive system therefore comes from weakening discretionary authority over law enforcement
Subjects: 
rule of law
Rule of Force
Personal Rights
Private Property Protection
Economic Growth
JEL: 
P16
P50
N40
O40
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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