The impact of democracy indicators on economic growth: Empirical findings from BRICS-T countries

Understanding the origins of inequality and poverty in the world is important in terms of shaping the future of countries. In the past, the wealth and prosperity of nations was explained only by economic policies. Today, however; In addition to economic policies, the existence and functioning of the institutional structure are among the main factors affecting economic growth. The institutional structure contributes to the creation and development of the rules regulating the relations between the individual and the society. Economic freedoms and democracy affect the level of economic growth and welfare by determining the institutional structure. When the theoretical approaches explaining the relationship between economic freedoms, democracy and economic growth, which are among the main indicators of the institutional structure, are examined, conflict approach, compatibility approach and skeptical approach come to the fore. In this study, it is aimed to reveal the relationship between democracy and economic growth within the scope of BRICS-T countries, which is a new power center in the global world, by absorbing the sub-components of the concepts of democracy and economy. In this context, econometric analysis was carried out with the data obtained specifically for the countries in the BRICS-T group and for the 2006-2019 period. Panel regression analysis was adopted as the data analysis method in the study. In the first stage of the econometric analysis, panel unit root tests were carried out, and then the panel regression model was estimated using the EKK and Dynamic EKK estimation methods. The findings obtained as a result of the ecoonometric analysis were used to explain the relationship between democracy and economic growth and to explain which of the conflict, cohesion and skepticism approaches are valid in the country group under consideration.