Rather Yields than Rights: The influence of economic integration on the consolidation of autocratic regimes

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.