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Political Predation and Economic Development

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  • Bruno Biais

    (CRM - Centre de Recherche en Management - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - IAE - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Toulouse - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Jean-Paul Azam
  • Robert Bates

Abstract

We analyze a game between citizens and governments, whose type (benevolent or predatory) is unknown to the public. Opportunistic governments mix between predation and restraint. As long as restraint is observed, political expectations improve, people enter the modern sector, and the economy grows. Once there is predation, the reputation of the government is ruined and the economy collapses. If citizens are unable to overthrow this government, the collapse is durable. Otherwise, a new government is drawn and the economy can rebound. Consistent with stylized facts, equilibrium political and economic histories are random, unstable, and exhibit long-term divergence

Suggested Citation

  • Bruno Biais & Jean-Paul Azam & Robert Bates, 2009. "Political Predation and Economic Development," Post-Print halshs-00491118, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00491118
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    5. Sonin, Konstantin & Goriaev, Alexei P., 2005. "Is Political Risk Company-Specific? The Market Side of the Yukos Affair," CEPR Discussion Papers 5076, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Timothy Besley & Masayuki Kudamatsu, 2007. "Making Autocracy Work," STICERD - Development Economics Papers - From 2008 this series has been superseded by Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers 48, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
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    9. Johnson Gwatipedza & Thorsten Janus, 2019. "Public investment under autocracy and social unrest," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 112-135, March.
    10. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2011. "Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9624.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ECONOMIC development ECONOMIC history EQUILIBRIUM (Economics) GOVERNMENT policy PRODUCTIVITY accounting ECONOMIC expansion SELF-employed EMINENT domain INCOME distribution WAR Economic aspects A priori POLICY sciences;

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • O0 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - General
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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