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Knowing The Right Person In The Right Place: Political Connections And Resistance To Change

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  • Giorgio Bellettini
  • Carlotta Berti Ceroni
  • Giovanni Prarolo

Abstract

We use a political economy model of Schumpeterian growth with entry to investigate how an incumbent politician can strategically use the level of red tape to acquire incumbency advantage. By setting sufficiently high red tape, the politician induces the incumbent firm in the intermediate sector to invest in political connections, which are valued also by voters, who recognize that bureaucratic costs can be reduced by connected firms. Within this framework, we study the Markov perfect equilibria of an infinitely repeated game among politicians, firms, and voters, and show that all equilibria are characterized by investments in political connections and the re-election of the incumbent politician. Political connections may prevent entry of advanced competitors and cause the economy to lag behind the technological frontier. Our model provides a possible explanation for the persistence of inefficient democracies and political barriers to technology development, where these reflect shared rather than conflicting interests.

Suggested Citation

  • Giorgio Bellettini & Carlotta Berti Ceroni & Giovanni Prarolo, 2014. "Knowing The Right Person In The Right Place: Political Connections And Resistance To Change," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 641-671, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jeurec:v:12:y:2014:i:3:p:641-671
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/jeea.12069
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    Cited by:

    1. Baskaran, Thushyanthan & Lopes da Fonseca, Mariana, 2016. "Electoral competition and endogenous political institutions: Quasi-experimental evidence from Germany," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 43-61.
    2. Bussolo, Maurizio & de Nicola, Francesca & Panizza, Ugo & Varghese, Richard, 2022. "Politically connected firms and privileged access to credit: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Giorgio Bellettini & Carlotta Berti Ceroni & Giovanni Prarolo, 2013. "Persistence Of Politicians And Firms' Innovation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(4), pages 2056-2070, October.
    4. Yu-Hong Ai & Di-Yun Peng & Huan-Huan Xiong, 2021. "Impact of Environmental Regulation Intensity on Green Technology Innovation: From the Perspective of Political and Business Connections," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-23, April.
    5. Giacomelli, Silvia & Tonello, Marco, 2018. "Assessing bureaucratic start-up costs through Mystery Calls. Evidence from the One-stop shops for doing business," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 121-140.
    6. Ufuk Akcigit & Salomé Baslandze & Francesca Lotti, 2023. "Connecting to Power: Political Connections, Innovation, and Firm Dynamics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(2), pages 529-564, March.
    7. Bellettini, Giorgio & Berti Ceroni, Carlotta & Prarolo, Giovanni, 2013. "Political persistence and economic growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 165-179.

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