Democracy does not cause growth (Julia Ruiz Pozuelo, Amy Slipowitz, Guillermo Vuletin, VOX)

The debate over whether democracy causes economic prosperity and growth dates back millennia. Recent empirical results suggest that democratisation has a sizable positive effect on economic growth, but endogeneity and reverse causality may be driving these results. This column uses new data from surveys of democracy experts to solve the endogeneity puzzle. The positive association between democracy and economic growth is a reflection of economic turmoil causing the emergence of democratic rule, rather than democracy causing more economic growth.

http://voxeu.org/article/democracy-does-not-cause-growth