We present a novel approach for measuring democracy based on Support Vector Machines, a mathematical algorithm for … pattern recognition. The Support Vector Machines Democracy Index (SVMDI) is continuously on the 0-1-interval and enables a … very detailed measurement of democracy for 188 countries between 1981 and 2011. Application of the SVMDI highlights a …

We present a novel approach for measuring democracy based on Support Vector Machines, a mathematical algorithm for … pattern recognition. The Support Vector Machines Democracy Index (SVMDI) is continuously on the 0-1-interval and enables a … very detailed measurement of democracy for 188 countries between 1981 and 2011. Application of the SVMDI highlights a …

Evidence from a novel measure of democracy (SVMDI) based on Support Vector Machines highlights a robust positive … relationship between democracy and economic growth. We argue that the ambiguity in recent studies can be traced back to the neglect … of the information in the equation in levels and the lack of sufficient sensitivity of traditional democracy indicators …

There is a growing literature studying the effects of economic freedom and democracy on income inequality; nevertheless … democracy is estimated. The findings demonstrate that economic freedom has positive effect on income inequality. The estimated …

There are many stories of democracy but little consensus over which variables robustly determine its emergence and … million regressions. The most robust determinants of the transition to democracy are GDP growth (a negative effect), past … countries are less likely to see democracy emerge, although the latter finding is driven entirely by oil producing Muslim …

There is an ongoing debate on the relationship between Islam, oil wealth and (lack of) democracy. Considerable … democracy, especially in oil-rich economics. This study examines the effects of formal institutions, specifically constitutions … that prescribe Shari'a law as a source of legislation, on democracy. We use a newly developed coding of the degree to which …

Do democracy and economic growth exerts similar patterns in the long-run? This paper systematically examines the … defining democracy according to arbitrary thresholds in quantitative indices: the focus is in fact on the process of political … development (along an ideal continuum from autocracy to democracy) rather than on its final output. Finally, the paper offers a …

We present a simple model that illustrates how democracy may improve the quality of economic institutions. The model … further suggests that institutional quality varies more across autocracies than across democracy and that the positive effect … of democracy on institutional quality is increasing in people's human capital. Using a new panel data set, covering 140 …