Is democracy pro-poor? An empirical test of the Sen Hypothesis based on global evidence

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gao, Yanyan; Zang, Leizhen
• 署名单位: Southeast University - China; China Agricultural University; Soochow University - China
• 刊物名称: GOVERNANCE-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLICY ADMINISTRATION AND INSTITUTIONS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0952-1895
• DOI: 10.1111/gove.12627
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: Poverty reduction; middle classes; GROWTH; democratization; education

摘要

It has long been hypothesized that democracy benefits the poor, yet solid empirical evidence for this assertion is scarce. This article provides new global evidence regarding the poverty-reduction effect of democracy, which we refer to as the Sen Hypothesis. A difference-in-differences estimation using cross-national panel data of over 100 countries from 1995 to 2015 shows that democracy reduces poverty, although the size of the effect varies by the poverty line chosen. The results also show that the effects are channeled by entitling more political rights, increasing freedom of speech and the size of middle classes, and improving governmental quality, and are heterogeneous over time and democratization types.