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Changes!

An Overview of this volume

The economic development of an LLDC has a strong connection to that of their international
neighbours (Research shows that a 1% increase in the GDP of a ‘transit’ country is linked to a
2% increase in the GDP of the LLDC).

LLDC can be both the cause of economic and political instability in their neighbouring
countries and vice versa.
LLDC continually rank highly across a range of negative factors relevant to economic
development.
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Inequality, Coup-Proofing and Civil Wars

“ Using data on 148 countries between 1960 and 2008, I find that inequality increases the
overall risk of irregular leader removal but that its effect differs across different forms of

violence. In particular, while inequality fosters coups, it has no discernible effect on the
likelihood of civil war onset. I also provide evidence consistent with my causal
mechanisms:

(1) inequality creates greater threat to the rulers by fueling political instability;
(2) inequality reduces coup-proofing; and

(3) coup-proofing increases the likelihood of civil war. “

"Inequality, Coup-Proofing and Civil Wars," n.d., 33. (June 2015) 82
Houle, Christian.
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Michigan State University

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Some factors will act as a brake on future economic development in Africa

There are causal linkages between the size of a country’s
informal economy and governance

youthful population and political instability

political instability and lack of progress in development
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