CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Ratsiripe-Sekgwa, Tebo Esmond Amantle |
|---|---|
| Title | Institutions and Economic Prosperity: The Case of Botswana |
| Summary | Although many theories exist on how to attain it, economic prosperity remains a challenge for much of Sub-Saharan Africa. Such theories include that of geography, culture, trade, factor endowments (human and physical capital), policy and institutions. Through a detailed historical case study based on primary and secondary literature, this paper studies how one of the few Sub-Saharan African countries to raise itself out of poverty, Botswana, was able to attain economic prosperity. The case is studied from an institutional perspective, but also considers the alternative hypotheses of geography, culture, trade, factor endowments and policy. Much literature has been written on the country presenting different explanations for the source of its economic success, in light of the many failures in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, this paper seeks to validate these arguments for Botswana’s economic progress. Although evidence was not found to support factor endowments, the results of this study validate institutions, geography, culture, trade, and policy hypotheses. In Botswana, political and economic institutions worked with elements of geography such as natural resource endowments; cultural aspects such as cooperation of different ethnic groups; negotiating favorable commodity prices when trading; and adoption of good policies that broadly benefit the population. As such, the research concludes that institutions matter for economic prosperity, but not exclusively. |
| Supervisor | Folsz, Attila |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/ratsiripe-sekgwa_tebo.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University