IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/11777.html

The Logic of Hereditary Rule: Theory and Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Besley, Tim
  • Reynal-Querol, Marta

Abstract

Hereditary leadership has been an important feature of the political landscape throughout history. This paper argues that hereditary leadership is like a relational contract which improves policy incentives. We assemble a unique dataset on leaders between 1874 and 2004 in which we classify them as hereditary leaders based on their family history. The core empirical finding is that economic growth is higher in polities with hereditary leaders but only if executive constraints are weak. Moreover, this holds across of a range of specifications. The finding is also mirrored in policy outcomes which affect growth. In addition, we find that hereditary leadership is more likely to come to an end when the growth performance under the incumbent leader is poor.

Suggested Citation

  • Besley, Tim & Reynal-Querol, Marta, 2017. "The Logic of Hereditary Rule: Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 11777, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11777
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP11777
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward Glaeser & Giacomo Ponzetto & Andrei Shleifer, 2007. "Why does democracy need education?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 77-99, June.
    2. Besley, Timothy & Reynal-Querol, Marta, 2011. "Do Democracies Select More Educated Leaders?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 105(3), pages 552-566, August.
    3. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1351-1408.
    4. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1995. "Institutions And Economic Performance: Cross‐Country Tests Using Alternative Institutional Measures," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(3), pages 207-227, November.
    5. Knack, Stephen & Keefer, Philip, 1995. "Institutions and Economic Performance: Cross-Country Tests Using Alternative Institutional Indicators," MPRA Paper 23118, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2001. "International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 541-563, July.
    7. Mike Burkart & Fausto Panunzi & Andrei Shleifer, 2003. "Family Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 2167-2201, October.
    8. Morten Bennedsen & Kasper Meisner Nielsen & Francisco Perez-Gonzalez & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2007. "Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 647-691.
    9. Robert Barro, 1973. "The control of politicians: An economic model," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 19-42, March.
    10. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    11. Ernesto Dal Bó & Pedro Dal Bó & Jason Snyder, 2009. "Political Dynasties," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(1), pages 115-142.
    12. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson & Marta Reynal-Querol, 2016. "Resilient Leaders and Institutional Reform: Theory and Evidence," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(332), pages 584-623, October.
    13. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:5:p:2167-2202 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Roger B. Myerson, 2015. "Moral Hazard in High Office and the Dynamics of Aristocracy," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2083-2126, November.
    15. Olson, Mancur, 1993. "Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(3), pages 567-576, September.
    16. Timothy Besley & Hannes Mueller, 2018. "Institutions, Volatility, and Investment," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 604-649.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ruzzante, Matteo & Pizzimenti, Cristoforo, 2025. "Brigandage and the political legacy of monarchical legitimacy in Southern Italy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    2. Miltos Makris & Theodore Palivos & Marios Zachariadis, 2020. "Representative Democracy with or without Elections: An Economic Analysis," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 06-2020, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    3. Claudio Ferraz & Frederico Finan & Monica Martinez-Bravo, 2024. "Political Power, Elite Control, and Long-Run Development: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(6), pages 2870-2908.
    4. Daniele, Gianmarco & Romarri, Alessio & Vertier, Paul, 2021. "Dynasties and policymaking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 89-110.
    5. 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.
    6. Ryan H. Murphy, 2019. "Governance and the dimensions of autocracy," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 131-148, June.
    7. Sebastian Ottinger & Nico Voigtländer, 2025. "History's Masters The Effect of European Monarchs on State Performance," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 93(1), pages 95-128, January.
    8. Yamasaki, Junichi, 2020. "Time horizon of government and public goods investment: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    9. Lacroix, Jean & Méon, Pierre-Guillaume & Oosterlinck, Kim, 2023. "Political Dynasties in Defense of Democracy: The Case of France’s 1940 Enabling Act," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(2), pages 359-397, June.
    10. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Khalifa, Sherif & Konso Mulali, Ben, 2020. "Who Becomes Minister in an Autocratic Regime? Evidence From DRC," MPRA Paper 103022, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Joshy Z. Easaw & Samuli Leppälä, 2023. "Democracy, state capacity and public finance," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(2), pages 301-321, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Piergiuseppe Fortunato & Ugo Panizza, 2015. "Democracy, education and the quality of government," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 333-363, December.
    2. Auerbach, Jan U., 2021. "Political competition over property rights enforcement," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    3. Michel Beine & Khalid Sekkat, 2014. "Emigration and origin country's institutions: does the destination country matter?," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 20-44, January.
    4. Andrea Asoni, 2008. "Protection Of Property Rights And Growth As Political Equilibria," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 953-987, December.
    5. Natkhov, T. & Polishchuk, L., 2017. "Political Economy of Institutions and Development: The Importance of Being Inclusive. Reflection on "Why Nations Fail" by D. Acemoglu and J. Robinson. Part I. Institutions and Economic Devel," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 12-38.
    6. Lilyan E. Fulginiti, 2010. "What comes first, agricultural growth or democracy?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(1), pages 15-24, January.
    7. Ahmet Faruk Aysan & …mer Faruk Baykal & Marie-Ange Véganzonès–Varoudakis, 2011. "The Effects of Convergence in Governance on Capital Accumulation in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Countries," Chapters, in: Mehmet Ugur & David Sunderland (ed.), Does Economic Governance Matter?, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Mehmet Ugur & David Sunderland, 2011. "Does Economic Governance Matter? New Contributions to the Debate," Chapters, in: Mehmet Ugur & David Sunderland (ed.), Does Economic Governance Matter?, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Krieger, Tommy, 2022. "Democracy and the quality of economic institutions: Theory and evidence," ZEW Discussion Papers 22-032, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Vollmer, Sebastian & Ziegler, Maria, 2009. "Political Institutions and Human Development Does Democracy Fulfill its 'Constructive' and 'Instrumental' Role?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4818, The World Bank.
    11. Michel Beine & Khalid Sekkat, 2013. "Skilled migration and the transfer of institutional norms," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-19, December.
    12. Bjørnskov, Christian & Méon, Pierre-Guillaume, 2015. "The Productivity of Trust," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 317-331.
    13. Usman Khalid, 2016. "Catch-up in Institutional Quality: An Empirical Assessment," Discussion Papers 2016-04, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    14. David Coyne & Chih-ming Tan, 2012. "Do political institutions yield multiple growth regimes?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(2), pages 1442-1454.
    15. Edward L. Glaeser & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Do Institutions Cause Growth?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 271-303, September.
    16. Czeglédi, Pál, 2009. "A tulajdonjogi biztonság szerepe a technológia elterjedésében [The role of property-law security in the spread of technology]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 790-813.
    17. Vito Pipitone & Luciano Seta, 2017. "A New Proposal to Model the Relationships between Total Factor Productivity, Institutions and Accumulation," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(4), pages 347-357.
    18. Chen, Derek H. C. & Dahlman, Carl J., 2004. "Knowledge and development : a cross-section approach," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3366, The World Bank.
    19. Bodnaruk, Andriy & Massa, Massimo & Yadav, Vijay, 2017. "Family ownership, country governance, and foreign portfolio investment," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 96-115.
    20. Fathi Ali & Norbert Fiess & Ronald Macdonald, 2011. "Climbing To The Top? Foreign Direct Investment And Property Rights," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 49(1), pages 289-302, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • N40 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - General, International, or Comparative

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11777. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.