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Dynastic Political Rents? Economic Benefits to Relatives of Top Politicians

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  • Olle Folke
  • Torsten Persson
  • Johanna Rickne

Abstract

We exploit close elections in Swedish municipalities to test whether relatives of politicians who become mayors obtain economic benefits. We find no benefits for the siblings of new mayors, but the average earnings of children of newly appointed mayors rise by about 15%. Administrative information on occupational and residence status show that the higher earnings are unlikely reflect an illegitimate allocation of jobs. But the evidence suggests that children of election‐winning mayors are more likely to postpone tertiary education and remain in their parents' municipality to work.

Suggested Citation

  • Olle Folke & Torsten Persson & Johanna Rickne, 2017. "Dynastic Political Rents? Economic Benefits to Relatives of Top Politicians," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(605), pages 495-517, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:econjl:v:127:y:2017:i:605:p:f495-f517
    DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12494
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    Cited by:

    1. Stéphane Benveniste & Renaud Coulomb & Marc Sangnier, 2022. "The (Market) Value of State Honors," Working Papers halshs-03558566, HAL.
    2. Gulzar, Saad & Khan, Muhammad Yasir, 2021. ""Good Politicians'': Experimental Evidence on Motivations for Political Candidacy and Government Performance," SocArXiv z9d3f, Center for Open Science.
    3. Stéphane Benveniste, 2024. "Political and Business Dynasties: a Social Gradient in Returns to Elite Education," AMSE Working Papers 2410, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    4. Oosterlinck, Kim & Lacroix, Jean & Méon, Pierre-Guillaume, 2019. "A Positive Effect of Political Dynasties: the Case of France’s 1940 Enabling Act," CEPR Discussion Papers 13871, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Berg, Heléne, 2020. "Politicians’ payments in a proportional party system," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    6. González, Felipe & Prem, Mounu, 2018. "The value of political capital: Dictatorship collaborators as business elites," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 217-230.
    7. repec:hal:ipppap:hal-04816627 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Arild Engelsen Ruud & Kenneth Bo Nielsen, 2018. "Political Dynasticism: Networks, Trust, Risk," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 6(2), pages 157-167, December.
    9. Adam Pilny & Felix Roesel, 2020. "Are Doctors Better Health Ministers?," American Journal of Health Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(4), pages 498-532.
    10. Berg, Heléne, 2020. "On the returns to holding political office (Is it worth it?)," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 840-865.
    11. Chen, Shuai & Ge, Erqi, 2024. "The Anti-Corruption Campaign and the Inter-Generational Transmission of Working in Bureaucracy: Evidence from China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1159 [rev.], Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Brice Fabre & Marc Sangnier, 2024. "Where and why do politicians send pork? Evidence from central government transfers to French municipalities," Institut des Politiques Publiques halshs-04687331, HAL.
    13. Sigurd S. Arntzen & Jon H. Fiva & Rune J. Sørensen, 2024. "Vetting for Virtue: Democracy’s Challenge in Excluding Criminals from Office," CESifo Working Paper Series 11412, CESifo.
    14. Brice Fabre & Marc Sangnier, 2022. "Where do politicians send pork? Evidence from central government transfers to French municipalities," DeFiPP Working Papers 2202, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    15. Andersen, Jørgen Juel & Sørensen, Rune Jørgen, 2022. "The zero-rent society: Evidence from hydropower and petroleum windfalls in Norwegian local governments," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).

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