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Petro Rents, Political Institutions, and Hidden Wealth: Evidence from Bank Deposits in Tax Havens

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  • J rgen Juel Andersen
  • Niels Johannesen
  • David Dreyer Lassen
  • Elena Paltseva

Abstract

Do political institutions limit rent-seeking by politicians? To address this question, we study the transformation of petroleum rents into hidden wealth using unique data on bank deposits in tax havens. We find that petroleum rents are associated with increases in hidden wealth, but only when political institutions are very weak. We also discern an interesting interaction with political risk: events such as elections and domestic conflict are preceded by increases in hidden wealth when political institutions are weak, which is consistent with a view of autocratic rulers as forward-looking rent-seekers whose behavior is constrained by political checks and balances.

Suggested Citation

  • J rgen Juel Andersen & Niels Johannesen & David Dreyer Lassen & Elena Paltseva, 2013. "Petro Rents, Political Institutions, and Hidden Wealth: Evidence from Bank Deposits in Tax Havens," Working Papers No 7/2013, Centre for Applied Macro- and Petroleum economics (CAMP), BI Norwegian Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:bny:wpaper:0016
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    Cited by:

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    2. Divya Datt, 2016. "Inter-governmental political relations in a federation and illegal mining of natural resources," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 18(4), pages 557-576, October.
    3. Carpantier, J.-F. & Vermeulen, W.N., 2018. "Emergence of sovereign wealth funds," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 11(C), pages 1-21.
    4. Ivar Kolstad, 2017. "Protected tax havens: Cornering the market through international reform?," CMI Working Papers 7, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway.
    5. Asiamah, Oliver & Agyei, Samuel Kwaku & Bossman, Ahmed & Agyei, Ellen Animah & Asucam, Joseph & Arku-Asare, Michael, 2022. "Natural resource dependence and institutional quality: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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