Rather Yields than Rights

The influence of economic integration on the consolidation of autocratic regimes

Authors

  • David Nikolas Kristen University of Mannheim

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.33.1

Keywords:

autocracies, consolidation of autocracies, economic integration, foreign direct investment, trade agreements, investment treaties, WTO, regime durability

Abstract

Despite the research on globalization and the survival of autocracies through economic integration, the knowledge regarding the relationship between these two events, the importance of which has noticeably increased in the last decades, is still limited. This paper examines the influence that economic integration has on the consolidation and therefore the durability of autocratic regimes. I use Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models to test the impact that foreign direct investment, trade agreements, investment treaties and membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) have on the durability of autocracies within 120 countries between 1961 and 2008. The results generally support my theoretical assumptions that a higher level of economic integration leads to increased durability and hence consolidation of autocracies. However, WTO membership decreases the durability, and FDI inflows have an impact only within a certain range while trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties extend the lifespan of the examined cases.

Author Biography

David Nikolas Kristen, University of Mannheim

David Kristen 24, from Schwetzingen (Germany), is a graduate who received his bachelor's degree in Political Sciences and Business Administration at the University of Mannheim in 2016. His main areas of interest are the fields of international political economy and development studies. He currently works at the German Chamber of Commerce in Chile and has gained professional experience working for a humanitarian aid organization through the German Corporation for International Cooperation and as a student assistant at the Social Science faculty of the University of Mannheim.

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Published

2017-08-25

How to Cite

Kristen, David Nikolas. 2017. “Rather Yields Than Rights: The Influence of Economic Integration on the Consolidation of Autocratic Regimes”. Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science 33 (August). Online:5-27. https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.33.1.

Issue

Section

Research articles