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Social Proximity and Bureaucrat Performance: Evidence from India

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  • Guo Xu
  • Marianne Bertrand
  • Robin Burgess

Abstract

Using exogenous variation in social proximity generated by an allocation rule, we find that bureaucrats assigned to their home states are perceived to be more corrupt and less able to withstand illegitimate political pressure. Despite this, we observe that home officers are more likely to be promoted in the later stages of their careers. To understand this dissonance between performance and promotion we show that incoming Chief Ministers preferentially promote home officers that come from the same home district. Taken together, our results suggest that social proximity hampers bureaucrat performance by facilitating political capture and corruption.

Suggested Citation

  • Guo Xu & Marianne Bertrand & Robin Burgess, 2018. "Social Proximity and Bureaucrat Performance: Evidence from India," NBER Working Papers 25389, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25389
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    Cited by:

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    2. Zoë Cullen & Ricardo Perez-Truglia, 2023. "The Old Boys' Club: Schmoozing and the Gender Gap," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(7), pages 1703-1740, July.
    3. Cyril Chalendard & Ana M Fernandes & Gael Raballand & Bob Rijkers, 2023. "Corruption in Customs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 575-636.
    4. Agnihotri, Anustubh, 2022. "Transfer preferences of bureaucrats and spatial disparities in local state presence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    5. Moon, Terry & Schoenherr, David, 2022. "The rise of a network: Spillover of political patronage and cronyism to the private sector," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 970-1005.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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