Disease, Institutions and Underdevelopment

Hasan, Lubna

Disease, Institutions and Underdevelopment

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: What explains poverty of Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia? One view holds the disease environment of these regions as the primary culprit. Others see it as a typical symptom of growth retarding institutions. We test validity of these competing assertions for a cross section of countries. Our results indicate that institutions are the prime determinant of economic performance of countries. Disease does not play a significant role in determining outcomes. On the contrary, we find support for the indirect effect of disease via institutions, as asserted by the 'institutions school'. Interestingly, the 'institutions school' contention about geography having no direct effect on income is also not validated. Our results show that being land locked can pose significant disadvantage for a country. Endowment of hydrocarbon, however, is beneficial for economic outcomes.

Keywords: Economic Performance; Institutions; Disease. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 O43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-08-19, Revised 2009-09-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-hap, nep-hea, nep-pke and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Disease, Institutions and Underdevelopment (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:17090

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