Extractive institutions in non-tradeable industries

Abstract

We are interested in the hypothesis that in order to promote export competitiveness and create jobs, it is necessary to address major distortions to prices in the non-tradeable sector. Exports drive growth in developing countries, yet most employment growth is generated in non-tradeable sectors. We contribute to the previous literature by explaining how non-tradeable sectors are particularly vulnerable to distortions arising from extractive and poor quality institutions. We estimate an IV-GMM model on a sample of low-middle income countries, finding evidence of a strong relationship between the growth of non-tradeable prices and the quality of local institutions. Overlooking the distortions in non-tradeable sectors could limit the analysis of constraints to economic growth and transformation in developing countries.