Comparing institutional determinants of economic growth in developing regions

Prime, Karla and Wanjiru, Roseline (2017) Comparing institutional determinants of economic growth in developing regions. In: Great Regional Awakening: New Directions: RSA Annual Conference 2017. Regional Studies Association. ISBN 978-1-897721-60-5

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Abstract

A range of institutions perform key roles in supporting the effective functioning of national markets in developing economies. Debates on the role of institutions in economic growth assume that particular institutional frameworks drive economic performance in developing economies. However, institutions vary greatly across economies. This study conducts a comparative investigation into the relationship between institutional quality and economic growth in selected developing economies of West Africa and the Caribbean. The persistence and quality of institutions in these West African and the Caribbean countries can historically be traced to their different colonial legacies including Belgium, Italian, French, Portuguese and English heritage. Despite exhibiting different institutional characteristics, these economies achieve similar levels of economic growth. This study investigates the impact of colonial heritage on the evolution, quality and characteristics of their institutional infrastructure on long-run economic growth. In particular, we identify those institutions that positively and significantly impact levels of productivity. Forty-one institutional indicators were categorised using principal component analysis and the institutional categories analysed using Arellano-Bond dynamic panel GMM model. Granger causality tests examined the directionality of the relationship between these categories of institutions and economic growth. Our findings confirm the existence of a long-run relationship between institutional quality and economic growth and that institutions cause economic growth. In particular, different categories of institutions are found to exert varying degrees of influence on levels of productivity. We also find evidence of a relationship between colonial heritage and the evolution and quality of institutions of these countries.

Item Type:	Book Section
Subjects:	L100 Economics
Department:	Faculties > Business and Law > Newcastle Business School
Depositing User:	Becky Skoyles
Date Deposited:	06 Mar 2018 11:34
Last Modified:	19 Nov 2019 09:47
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/33605

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