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Institutions Rule? Reexamining Rodrik’s framework within the realm of poverty. Samantha Kaminsky December 1, 2009. Motivation/Literature. Rodrik, Subramanian, Trebbi (2004): “Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions Over Geography and Integration in Economic Development” Conclusions :
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Institutions Rule?Reexamining Rodrik’s framework within the realm of poverty Samantha Kaminsky December 1, 2009
Motivation/Literature • Rodrik, Subramanian, Trebbi (2004): “Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions Over Geography and Integration in Economic Development” • Conclusions: • Institutions Rule • Geography exerts effects only through impacts on institutions • Trade insignificant (typically negative coefficient) a) Institutions: • Strong institutions have positive externalities and are significant in explaining cross-country income differentials (Douglas North (1990); Bhattacharyya, Dowrick and Golley (2009); Bosker and Garretsen (2009)) b) Geography: • Climate, disease prevalence, agriculture, transportation and resource endowments are all consequences of geography, which is statistically significant with respect to cross-country income differentials (Sachs (2003); Gallup, Sachs, and Mellinger (1998)) c) Integration (Economic Openness): • Trade has been shown to exert important influence as well as insignificant impacts on economic development. (Dollar and Kraay (2004); Do and Levchenko (2009))
Model Question: To what extent do differences in institutions explain poverty above and beyond their demonstrated effects on income? POV1PPPi = + ρLOGGDPPC2007i + ABSGEOGi + EFFECT2006i + LOGTRADEPCi + θPM10i + i POV1PPP -- the poverty gap ratio at US$1 a day (PPP) (%) (Source: UN Data) • Size of the percent increase of per capita income needed to eliminate poverty LOGGDPPC2007 -- The natural log ofper Capita GDP at Current US Prices in 2007. (Source: UN Data) ABSGEOG -- measure of absolute latitude (Source: CIA Factbook) EFFECT2006 -- captures government effectiveness (Source: Kaufmann et al. 2009, Pippa Norris) LOGTRADEPC -- The natural log of trade/population where trade equals imports plus exports. (Souce: UN Data, Penn World Tables) PM10 -- Urban population weighted average PM10 concentrations (in micro grams per cubic meter) in residential areas of cities larger than 100,000 in 1999. (Source: The World Bank, Development Economics Research Group Estimates)
(Ethnolinguistic Fractionalization) Government Effectiveness (Fraction of Population Speaking English) Income Economic Integration Poverty Pollution (British Legal Origin) Geography
Conclusions • Income most important determinant • Institutions have two implications for poverty • Via income and independently of income (consistent with Rodrik et al.) • Geography commands a positive effect • Integration has a positive relationship with poverty (contradiction with Rodrik et al.) • Pollution (or at least PM10) relatively insignificant Policy Implications: • Pro-poor growth is appropriate for poverty reduction