I am no expert in this field, but I will try my best to answer your question. Also, sorry for my broken English.

​

History:

Yes, both Haiti and DR were colonized, but by two very different countries - France (Haiti) and Spain (DR). France was a lot more brutal when it came to managing their colonies than Spain. Spain built a 'solid' foundation of infrastructure, and also gave locals some sort of authority/leadership-roles (on a minor scale), while France, put simply, whipped the slaves through the day.

Obviously, both countries were brutal and horrible in their way to managing the colonies, but France and Belgium are, to my understanding, known as being much more violent than other countries.

​

Also, Haiti killed each and every Frenchman living in the country after independence, whilst DR was better at unifying as a new nation. Haiti actually took over and controlled DR for twenty years just a few years after their own independence, which could have led to an improved unification of the DR people. I believe this is one of the main reasonings behind the hatred between Haitian and Dominican people.

​

Infrastructure

The Dominican Republic already had a decent foundation to build off of and started developing their country's infrastructure, allowing for better movement of goods and people. Later on, DR has also been great at attracting firms for foreign investments (It is close to half of GDP these days). These investments are largely made due to better infrastructure and trust to the legislative powers of the nation. Haiti lacks all of this. They have no system, leaving businesses with no desire to invest. This brings me to my next point.

​

Mindset & Leadership

As mentioned earlier, all Frenchmen left over in Haiti after the independence was murdered. These people could have helped the system become more robust, but the Haitians were focused on being in charge. Actually, Haiti has had five times more leadership shifts than DR, which has further implicated the rebuilding process. The mindset of Haitians has been too power-motivated, much like in the poor performing African nations. This largely comes down to not knowing better. When they themselves were managed by the French, violence was the answer. They inherited this and enforced it onto their own people.

​

I think infrastructure and trust to the legislative powers are the main reasonings for Haiti's lacking economic performance. Firms do not like the thought of operating in a volatile political environment, where there are no roads to move goods out to the coast etc.