The Nexus Between the Democratic Transition and the Structural Transformation

Abstract

There are several theoretical and empirical papers on the structural transformation but there is not a study relating structural transformation with the political regime switch in the country. This paper aims to fill the gap in relevant literature by empirically examining the linkage between the political regime switch and the structure of the economy. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of the political regime switch on the share of the agricultural value added in the GDP. Due to endogeneity issues, Difference GMM methodology is used to test the hypothesis that the democratization leads to the structural transformation of the economy by using data for 43 countries over the period from 1970-2016. The estimation results confirm that the share of agricultural value in total value added is higher when the country is ruled by an autocratic system rather than a democratic system. Moreover, the estimation results indicate that per capita GDP, arable land, and trade openness have a negative significant, whereas financial development, fertility, and population have a positive significant impact on the value added share of agriculture.

Keywords

• Structural transformation,democratic transition,engels’ law,median voter theorem,difference GMM

Demokrasiye Geçiş ve Ekonomide Yapısal Dönüşüm Arasindaki İlişki

Abstract

İlgili literatürde ekonominin yapısal dönüşümü üzerine birçok teorik ve uygulamalı çalışma bulunmasına rağmen, politik sistem değişikliğiyle ekonominin yapısal dönüşümünü beraber inceleyen çalışma bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışma ilgili literatürde bulunan bu boşluğu doldurmayı ve politik rejim değişimleri ve ekonomideki yapısal dönüşüm arasındaki ilişkiyi ekonometrik olarak incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı politik sistem dönüşümünün, otokratik politik sistemden demokratik politik sisteme geçişin, tarım sektörünün gayrisafi yurtiçi hasıladaki payı üzerine etkisini incelemektir. Otokratik politik sistemden, demokratik politik sisteme geçişin ekonomide yapısal dönüşüme neden olacağı hipotezini içsellik sorunlarından dolayı tercih ettiğimiz Fark GMM ekonometrik metodolojisi kullanılarak test ettik. Çalışmada kullanılan gözlemler 43 ülke ve 1970-2016 yılları arası için geçerlidir. Uygulama sonuçları tarım sektörünün gayrisafi yurtiçi hasıladaki payının, ülkeler otokratik politik sistemden demokratik politik sisteme geçiş sağlamalarıyla azalacağını göstermektedir. Uygulama sonuçları ilgili katsayı büyüklüğünün tüm modeller dikkate alındığında -0.590 ve -1.172 arasında değiştiğini göstermektedir. Buna ilaveten, uygulama sonuçları kişi başı gayrisafi yurtiçi hasıla, ekilebilir alan büyüklüğü ve ekonominin dış ticarete açıklığındaki değişimlerin tarım sektörünün gayrisafi yurtiçi hasıladaki payı üzerine etkisinin negatif anlamlı olduğunu, bir diğer taraftan finansal kalkınma, doğurganlık ve nüfustaki değişimlerin ise etkisinin pozitif anlamlı olduğunu göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Yapısal dönüşüm,demokratik geçiş,engel kanunu,ortanca seçmen teorisi,fark GMM

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