Inequality, Institutions and Development.

Summary This thesis studies the relationship between political regime and the development of poor countries. It first shows the importance of wealth distribution in the industrialization process of egalitarian economies that are more likely to adopt industrial technologies. She then looks at the impact of the political regime on industrialization. She shows that the choice of political regime can be linked to development expectations. Egalitarian economies are more likely to become democratic. Finally, she focuses on the interaction between political and economic reforms. She shows that successful economic reforms must be accompanied by a democratization of political institutions. In particular, she contributes to the big bang or gradualism debate.