THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN MUSLIM MENA COUNTRIES (SPATIAL ECONOMETRIC APPROACH)

Abstract

Impact of democracy and governance on the economic growth and development has always been a matter of conflict among researchers. In this research, by using data of 18 Muslim countries of MENA region during 2008-2014 by spatial econometric approach, impact of democracy on the economic growth is studied by democeracy index. The results show that democracy in the surveyed region has had a negative impact on the economic growth. The results of spatial panel data model indicate that there is a spatial relationship between the economic growth of MENA region countries and physical capital has also a spatial spillover effect.