Replication data for: The Economic Origins of Democratic Civil Liberties: A Cross-Country Analysis

Studies have observed a correlation of wealth with democracy, yet it remains unclear how wealth can cause or stabilize democracy. Recent research has shown how the causal mechanism may lie in the economic norm of contracting, as democracy becomes valued as the best means for sustaining a non-predatory government that enforces contracts with impartiality. We extend this research to investigate if norms of economic contracting in societies give rise to, and strengthen, the democratic civil liberties of free speech and association. Drawing on the World Bank’s Financial Structure Database and data on civil liberties from the Varieties of Democracy dataset, analyses of most countries from 1961 to 2019 show that the economic norms of contracting have significant positive effects on the civil liberties of free speech and association and press freedom. With instrumental variable regression, we statistically isolate the causation from contracting to these civil liberties. This study pinpoints that contracting economic activities may strengthen the foundation of civil liberties in countries.

已有研究证实财富与民主存在相关性，但目前仍不清楚财富如何推动或巩固民主制度。近期研究表明，其因果机制或蕴藏于契约缔约的经济规范之中：此时民主被视作维持非掠夺性政府的最优途径，而这类政府能够以公正立场执行契约。本研究拓展了该领域的研究方向，旨在探讨社会中的契约缔约经济规范是否会催生并强化民主制度下的言论自由与结社自由等公民自由权利。本研究依托世界银行（World Bank）金融结构数据库，以及来自民主多样性数据集（Varieties of Democracy）的公民自由数据，对1961年至2019年多数国家的样本开展分析，结果显示契约缔约的经济规范对言论自由、结社自由与新闻自由等公民自由权利具有显著的正向影响。通过工具变量回归法，本研究从统计学层面厘清了契约缔约行为对这类公民自由权利的因果影响路径。本研究明确指出，契约缔约类经济活动或可强化各国公民自由权利的制度根基。