Demographic Structure and the Security of Property Rights in Developing Countries – An Empirical Exploration

Philipp Harms and Philipp an de Meulen

No 229, Ruhr Economic Papers from RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract: It is often argued that countries with a high population share of children and young workers should attract large capital inflows from aging industrialized economies. However, many of these countries deter foreign investors by a high risk of creeping or outright expropriation. In this paper we explore whether the correlation between countries' demographic structure and the perceived security of property rights reflects a causal relationship. We show that, once we control for other potential determinants of expropriation risk, the ratio of young to old workers has a positive effect on the perceived security of property rights in low-income countries. This effect is the stronger the more democratic the political system.

Keywords: international investment; political economy; expropriation risk; demographics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 F21 J10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:rwirep:229

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