The Economic Consequences of Democratization in Benin

Sammanfattning: In the 1990s, several West African countries transitioned from autocracy to democracy, and this wave of democratization originated and spread from Benin. This paper aims to assess the impact of democratization on the economy of Benin through the use of the synthetic control method. The analysis deploys the synthetic control method to compare outcomes under the democratization in Benin against an estimated counterfactual scenario in the hypothetical absence of democratization. Relative to the control group, I find that real GDP per capita increased following democratization. While infant mortality decreased and human capital and life expectancy increased following democratization, these outcomes also improved in the synthetic control group. Hence, the decrease in infant mortality and improvements in life expectancy and human capital cannot be explained by democratization. In conclusion, the impact of democratization on economic development in Benin was positive if measured by real GDP per capita. The results are robust to three sensitivity checks: in-place, in-time, and leave-one-out tests. This paper complements the existing literature on political economy by providing estimates on the impact of democratization on economic growth and development in an emerging market economy.