Working Paper: NBER ID: w29167
Authors: Daron Acemoglu; Nicols Ajzenman; Cevat Giray Aksoy; Martin Fiszbein; Carlos A. Molina
Abstract: Using large-scale survey data covering more than 110 countries and exploiting within-country variation across cohorts and surveys, we show that individuals with longer exposure to democracy display stronger support for democratic institutions. We bolster these baseline findings using an instrumental-variables strategy exploiting regional democratization waves and focusing on immigrants’ exposure to democracy before migration. In all cases, the timing and nature of the effects are consistent with a causal interpretation. We also establish that democracies breed their own support only when they are successful: all of the effects we estimate work through exposure to democracies that are successful in providing economic growth, peace and political stability, and public goods.
Keywords: democracy; support for democracy; economic growth; political stability; public goods
JEL Codes: P16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| democratic experience before birth (J19) | support for democracy (D72) |
| exposure variable (C29) | non-political attitudes (D72) |
| exposure to democracy (D72) | support for democratic institutions (O17) |
| economically successful democracies (P19) | support for democratic institutions (O17) |