Interdependance, Liberte Et Développement International (Interdependence, Freedom and International Convergence)

FEUNL Working Paper Series No. 582

35 Pages Posted: 7 Feb 2014

See all articles by Jorge Braga de Macedo

Jorge Braga de Macedo

Nova School of Business and Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: January 21, 2014

Abstract

French Abstract: Le titre évoque l’interaction complexe entre globalisation, démocratie et développement, mesurés respectivement par l’indice du KOF (Institut Économique Suisse), l’indice de Freedom House et le PIB par habitant relatif aux États Unis. L’approche revient à des estimations simultanées de ces trois variables pour 92 pays de 1970 à 2005. On commence par illustrer les effets de l’ouverture commerciale sur la transmission internationale des cycles économiques, puis on rappelle la tradition intellectuelle de l’interdépendance entre pays de l’OCDE pour motiver l’interaction entre réformes, élections et marchés financiers ainsi que les implications culturelles de la surveillance multilatérale. On interroge alors les données de panel sur l’existence d’une interaction entre globalisation et gouvernance « tous azimuts », en soulignant les spécificités historiques et géographiques de pays en développement. Finalement, ces spécificités sont reprises pour illustrer la «differentialité» de la communauté des pays lusophones (CPLP), en suggérant la forme d’une lettre à la Reine sur la crise, utilisée par l’Académie Britannique en 2009. La conclusion est que, même pour les pays dont l’indice de liberté se situe autour de la moyenne hors l’OCDE, globalisation et démocratie peuvent interagir de façon à promouvoir, plutôt qu’à menacer, la convergence internationale.

English Abstract: The paper addresses the complex interaction between globalization, democracy and development, measured respectively by the KOF (Swiss Economic Institute) index, the Freedom House index and GDP per capita relative to the US. The approach follows from previous simultaneous estimates of the three variables for 92 countries between 1970 and 2005. The paper is organized in ten sections plus an introduction and a conclusion. Section 2 illustrates the effects of trade openness on the international transmission of business cycles. Section 3 uses the intellectual tradition of interdependence among OECD countries to motivate the interaction between reforms, elections and financial markets in section 4. Section 5 shows how culture matters for the efficiency of multilateral surveillance mechanisms. Section 6 questions the existence of interactions between globalization and governance across the board, using panel data in sections 7 and 8 to underline the historical and geographical specificities of developing countries. Section 9 brings historical and geographical factors to bear on the community of Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP). An adaptation of the letter to the Queen on the crisis used by the British Academy in 2009 could be used to illustrate the « differentiality » of Portuguese-speaking countries. The conclusion is that, even for countries whose freedom index is around the non OECD mean, globalization and democracy can interact in such a way as to promote, rather than to threaten, international convergence. Additional material can be found in Democracy, Unlocked?, book of proceedings of the colloquium at the Royal Academy of Belgium, available at BAN under call number A13-004.

Note: Downloadable document is in French.

Suggested Citation

Braga de Macedo, Jorge, Interdependance, Liberte Et Développement International (Interdependence, Freedom and International Convergence) (January 21, 2014). FEUNL Working Paper Series No. 582, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2391214 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2391214

Jorge Braga de Macedo (Contact Author)

Nova School of Business and Economics ( email )

Campus de Carcavelos
Rua da Holanda, 1
Carcavelos, 2775-405
Portugal

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

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