Does faster economic growth increase pressure for democratic change, or reduce it? Using data for 154 countries for the period 1963–2007, we examine the short-run relationship between economic growth and moves toward and away from greater democracy. To address the potential endogeneity of economic growth, we use variation in precipitation, temperatures, and commodity prices as instruments for a country's rate of economic growth. Our results indicate that more rapid economic growth reduces the short-run likelihood of institutional change toward democracy. Output contractions due to adverse weather shocks appear to have a particularly important impact on the timing of democratic change. (JEL D72, E23, E32, O11, O17, O47)

This paper provides a review of the macro-level evidence on the importance of electricity for economic development. We find that electricity access and use are strongly correlated with economic development, as theory suggests. Despite a large empirical literature, however, there are few methodologically strong studies that establish causal effects of either electricity use or electricity infrastructure on economic growth. The micro-level literature provides more convincing evidence of causal effects, although these appear not to be uniform in all locations. We present a number of country case studies that are suggestive of electrification playing an important role in broad-based development progress. The paper also identifies potential avenues for future research. High-quality macro-level evidence on the economic effects of electricity access and reliability would help policy-makers and aid agencies make decisions regarding investment priorities.