Empowering knowledge: Political leaders,education, and economic liberalization |
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| Institution: | 1. Louisiana State University and NBER, USA;2. Hasselt University, Belgium;1. Economics Department, University of Genoa, Italy;2. Bangor Business School, Bangor, United Kingdom;3. Political Science Department, University of Genoa, Italy;1. Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Marstallplatz 1, D-80539, Munich, Germany;2. University of Munich, Germany;3. CESifo, Germany;4. Sydney University Law School, Australia;1. Department of Economics, Graduate Institute of Geneva (IHEID), Maison de la Paix, Ch. Eugene-Rigot 2, CH-1211, Geneva, Switzerland;2. Department of Economics, Utrecht University and Wageningen University, P.O.Box 8130, 6700, EW, Wageningen, the Netherlands;1. School of Politics and Governance, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia;2. Goodrich C. White Professor (Emeritus) of Political Science, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga, USA;3. International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia;4. Department of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Ma, USA;5. Institute of Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia;1. School of Public Policy, Central European University, Nador u. 9, 1051, Budapest, Hungary;2. LEMMA, Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, France |
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| Abstract: | Recent literature reports significant effects of political leaders in driving economic policies but does not provide an exhaustive answer as to why. This paper argues that educational background plays an important role in shaping leaders' ideas and beliefs, which in turn matter for policy making in the long run. Using a cross-country data covering 137 countries and regions over 1960–2005, the paper documents a robustly positive relationship between leaders educational attainment and faster liberal reforms, regardless of regime type. The effects are more salient for leaders who majored in economics, social science, and natural science. Moreover, the effects of education seem to be orthogonal to alternative channels such as partisan politics, geopolitical factors, and public opinions. |
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| Keywords: | Political leaders Education Economic liberalization Ideas |
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