The impact of political leaders' profession and education on reforms

This paper analyzes whether the educational and professional background of a head of government matters for the implementation of market-liberalizing reforms. Employing panel data over the period 1970–2002, we present empirical evidence based on a novel data set covering profession and education of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Comparative Economics 2009-03, Vol.37 (1), p.169-193
Main Authors: Dreher, Axel, Lamla, Michael J, Lein, Sarah M, Somogyi, Frank
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beruf
Bildung
Careers
Cross cultural studies
Deregulierung
Economic freedom
Economic policy
Economic reform
Education
Entrepreneurship
Government
Leadership
Level of education
Liberalization
Market economy
Occupations
Policy making
Political leadership
Political parties
Politiker
Reforms
Reforms Economic policy Economic freedom Leadership
Welt
Wirtschaftsreform
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Summary:This paper analyzes whether the educational and professional background of a head of government matters for the implementation of market-liberalizing reforms. Employing panel data over the period 1970–2002, we present empirical evidence based on a novel data set covering profession and education of more than 500 political leaders from 72 countries. Our results show that reforms are more likely during the tenure of former entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs belonging to a left-wing party are more successful in inducing reforms than a member of a right-wing party with the same previous profession. Former professional scientists also promote reforms, the more so, the longer they stay in office. The impact of politicians' education is not robust and depends on the method of estimation. Journal of Comparative Economics 37 (1) (2009) 169–193.
ISSN:0147-5967
1095-7227
DOI:10.1016/j.jce.2008.08.005