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Political Connections Reduce Job Creation: Firm-level Evidence from Lebanon

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  • Diwan, Ishac
  • Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim

Abstract

Using firm-level data, we document that politically connected firms (PCFs) create more jobs than unconnected firms in Lebanon. We observe, however, that the presence of PCFs in a sector is correlated with lower job creation. Although causality is difficult to establish due to endogeneity issues, we find that PCFs expand, and non-PCFs retract, more around elections. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that unfair competition by PCFs hurts unconnected competitors so much that aggregate employment growth in the sector is affected negatively.

Suggested Citation

  • Diwan, Ishac & Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim, 2020. "Political Connections Reduce Job Creation: Firm-level Evidence from Lebanon," MPRA Paper 112109, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:112109
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    Cited by:

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    3. Aboushady, Nora & Zaki, Chahir, 2023. "Are global value chains for sale? On business-state relations in the MENA region," IDOS Discussion Papers 17/2023, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    4. Ruckteschler, Christian & Malik, Adeel & Eibl, Ferdinand, 2022. "Politics of trade protection in an autocracy: Evidence from an EU tariff liberalization in Morocco," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Iryna Didenko & Alina Yefimenko, 2023. "Interconnections assessment of banking capitalization with macroeconomic stability, including corruption and shadow economy," Technology audit and production reserves, PC TECHNOLOGY CENTER, vol. 4(4(72)), pages 60-67, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    job creation; political connections; event study; competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D47 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Market Design
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J4 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L50 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - General
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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