Democracy does not cause growth

Julia Ruiz Pozuelo, Amy Slipowitz, Guillermo Vuletin, 30 September 2016

The debate over whether democracy causes economic prosperity and growth dates back millennia. Recent empirical results suggest that democratisation has a sizable positive effect on economic growth, but endogeneity and reverse causality may be driving these results. This column uses new data from surveys of democracy experts to solve the endogeneity puzzle. The positive association between democracy and economic growth is a reflection of economic turmoil causing the emergence of democratic rule, rather than democracy causing more economic growth.

Venture capital isn’t crucial to innovation

Masako Ueda, Masayuki Hirukawa, 30 January 2009

Venture capitalists are casualties of the current crisis, as they have lost their ability to cash out their investments in the stock market. Should we worry that innovation and long-run growth are in trouble? This column summarises the evidence on venture capital and innovation, arguing that the current VC woes are unlikely to significantly dampen economic prospects.

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