Alan Green

Institutions Matter, But in Surprising Ways: New Evidence on Institutions in Africa

Estimation of the effects of institutions on long-term growth is severely limited by the endogeneity of institutions to the choices of governments. I thus approach the model from the household level and estimate the effects of aggregate institutions on household wealth. Under the benign assumption that institutions are exogenous to household choices this model gives unbiased estimates of multiple institutional variables. Issues then arise of the basic concepts and measurements of institutional variables. I revisit these issues and present new regional level institutional variables that are representative of 151 regions in thirteen African countries and measure clear concepts of institutions. I find that regional level institutions have significant effects on household wealth in a nonlinear fashion. Fear of crime, expectations of law enforcement and corruption at multiple levels are all estimated to have significant nonlinear effects on household wealth.

Do Property Rights Institutions Matter at the Local Level? Evidence from Madagascar

Abstract While several cross-country studies have demonstrated that property rights institutions are crucial for economic growth, empirical evidence of this relationship within countries is limited. This article analyses the link between property rights institutions and development at a local level with two rounds of a unique dataset covering almost all of Madagascar at a level akin to counties in the United States. We find robust evidence that property rights institutions in the form of formal land titles do matter for the emergence of large firms at very low administrative levels. We also find evidence that growth in enterprise development strengthens formal property rights, supporting the notion that the causality between institutions and growth runs both ways even at a low administrative level.

Significant returns in engagement and performance with a free teaching app

Abstract Pedagogical research shows that teaching methods other than traditional lectures may result in better outcomes. However, lecture remains the dominant method in economics, likely due to high implementation costs of methods shown to be effective in the literature. In this article, the author shows significant benefits of using a teaching app for clicker questions and exit tickets (a digital one-minute paper) in lectures with minimal time commitment and outside preparation. The use of the teaching app improved exam performance by over 8 percent, on average, compared to a control section of traditional lecture and discussion in principles classes.

Democracy and Institutions in Postcolonial Africa

Africa has seen a steady rise in democracy since the end of the Cold War. This paper investigates two possible implications of democratization in African countries: better economic growth through improved institutions and less civil conflict through increased political participation. Instrumental variables regressions parallel to those in the literature are estimated using a new instrument: the spatial lag of democracy. This instrument varies over time, allowing for consideration of country fixed effects in IV regressions. Results show significant effects of democratization on growth and civil conflict in IV regressions with country fixed effects. The overall results indicate that there are positive impacts of institutions on economic growth and of political participation on reducing civil conflict in IV regressions with fixed effects.

The Roots of STEM Achievement: An Analysis of Persistence and Attainment in STEM Majors

This article analyzes persistence and attainment in postsecondary science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM) education using data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study. Ability is shown to have a consistent impact on STEM performance. Self-efficacy has large estimated impacts, and there is evidence of strong bias against women. High school math preparation and attending small colleges increase the likelihood of noninterested students switching to STEM fields. Overall, there is little evidence that collegiate educational experiences affect persistence or attainment. The results indicate that policies to improve high school math preparation and address the gender gap would be most effective. JEL Classifications: I21, I28

Steps to Success: An Analysis of Persistence and Attainment in STEM Majors

This paper analyzes persistence and attainment in postsecondary STEM education using data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study. Ability is shown to have a consistent impact on STEM performance. Self-efficacy has large estimated impacts and there is evidence of strong bias against women. High school math preparation and attending small colleges increase the likelihood of non-interested students switching to STEM fields. Overall there is little evidence that collegiate educational experiences impact persistence or attainment. The results indicate that policies to improve high school math preparation and address the gender gap would be most effective.

Estimating the Effects of Democratization in African Countries: A Simultaneous Equations Approach

This paper analyzes impacts of democratization in Africa, including effects of improved, property rights on economic growth and of greater political participation on civil violence. Democracy is endogenous to economic growth and other outcomes, which hampers most, empirical analysis. This paper uses a minimum distance simultaneous equations estimation to, account for all endogenous variables while including time and country fixed effects. The method yields a test of fit of the model, which is strong. Results indicate a positive significant effect of property rights institutions on economic growth in the presence of time and country fixed effects. Estimates also show a negative significant effect of political participation on civil violence and, strong effects of aid per capita on both economic growth and civil violence.

The Household Analysis of Comparative Development: An Empirical Replication

Institutions are clearly exogenous to household decisions. Analysis of institutions can thus in theory proceed from the household level and avoid the problem of endogeneity. This assertion is tested through a replication of Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson’s (2001) seminal paper. Replication at the household level is successful and with adequate controls IV and OLS household estimates are nearly identical, indicating no endogeneity problem. These results invite further analysis of institutions using household data. Estimates show a smaller effect of property rights institutions than found in the literature. Significant effects of geography, life expectancy and urban location are found.

Institutions and the Stages of Growth

This paper reconsiders growth regressions from the perspective of Walt Whitman Rostow’s classic growth stages framework. We revised Rostow’s stages and then code every country that has data available according to the framework. We then estimate growth regression by stage and with interaction variables between institutions and growth stages. We find that the determinants of growth do vary by stage and that different institutions have different impacts by stage.

Contracts Do Matter: Robust Evidence of an Optimal Level of Legal Formalism in Developing Countries

This paper asks: ‘how do institutions impact household wealth?’ This question is the micro level analogue to the macro question: ‘how do institutions impact economic growth?’ Institutions are exogenous to household decisions, allowing for quasi-experimental analysis of this micro question. Results shed light on a continuing puzzle: contracting institutions have typically been found to be insignificant empirically. Estimates show a strong quadratic effect of legal formalism on household wealth. Household analysis also shows smaller impacts of property rights than found in the literature. Results are robust to inclusion of controls for other institutions, geography, economic indicators, historical factors and democracy.