Economic Growth and Institutions in Developing Countries: Panel Evidence

Numerous empirical studies have documented the evidence of institutional significance towards economic growth. This study extends such evidence as it examines the link between institutions and growth in developing countries including East Asian region. By using neoclassical growth framework augmented with institutional controls and latest estimation technique in panel data analysis, this study finds evidence of positive institutions growth-effects and uncovers the channel of their effects toward growth. This study also fills the gap in the East Asian growth literature, in which, to the best of our knowledge, only two studies namely Rodrik (1997) and Campos and Nugent (1999) that document the institutional importance toward economic growth for the region and apparently these studies are for the period before the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.