THE EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL, FINANCIAL, TECHNOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS ON THE DEMOCRACY LEVEL IN EMERGING ECONOMIES*

Abstract

The study investigates the effects of industrial production, high-technology exports, credit to private sector, and environmental industrialization indicators on the level of democracy in emerging markets. We tested the impact of industrialization indicators on the level of democracy with the dynamic panel data model and the panel ordered qualitative choice model that we used for the first time in the democracy literature. We obtained similar results from both dynamic panel data analysis and ordered qualitative choice model analysis. We conclude that economic development raises the level of democracy and is more effective at higher levels of democracy.