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Kinship, Fractionalization and Corruption

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By shaping patterns of relatedness and interaction, marriage practices influence the relative returns to norms of nepotism/favoritism versus norms of impartial cooperation. In-marriage (e.g. consanguineous marriage) yields a relatively closed society of related individuals and thereby encourages favoritism and corruption. Out-marriage creates a relatively open society with increased interaction between non-relatives and strangers, thereby encouraging impartiality. We report a robust association between in-marriage practices and corruption across countries and across Italian provinces. A stylized corruption experiment comparing subjects from two countries with divergent marriage patterns provides complementary evidence that the degree of impartiality varies with marriage patterns.

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  • Mahsa Akbari & Duman Bahrami-Rad & Erik O. Kimbrough, 2017. "Kinship, Fractionalization and Corruption," Discussion Papers dp17-17, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    • Handle: RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp17-17
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    1. Aidin Hajikhameneh & Erik O. Kimbrough & Brock Stoddard, 2023. "Do Individualists and Collectivists Cooperate Differently?," Working Papers 23-11, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    2. Pelin Akyol & Naci Mocan, 2023. "Education and Consanguineous Marriage," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(1), pages 114-171.
    3. Siwan Anderson & Chris Bidner, 2021. "An Institutional Perspective on the Economics of the Family," Discussion Papers dp21-14, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    4. Damián Vergara, 2022. "Do policies and institutions matter for pre-tax income inequality? Cross-country evidence," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(1), pages 30-52, February.
    5. Jacob Moscona & Nathan Nunn & James A. Robinson, 2020. "Segmentary Lineage Organization and Conflict in Sub‐Saharan Africa," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(5), pages 1999-2036, September.
    6. Ray, Tridip & Roy Chaudhuri, Arka & Sahai, Komal, 2020. "Whose education matters? An analysis of inter caste marriages in India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 619-633.
    7. Paola Giuliano & Nathan Nunn, 2018. "Ancestral Characteristics of Modern Populations," Economic History of Developing Regions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 1-17, January.
    8. Qian, Nancy & Nunn, Nathan & Wen, Jaya, 2018. "Distrust and Political Turnover," CEPR Discussion Papers 12555, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Root, Hilton L., 2024. "The religious origins of state capacity in Europe and China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 456-469.
    10. Israel Eruchimovitch & Moti Michaeli & Assaf Sarid, 2024. "On the coevolution of individualism and institutions," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 391-432, September.
    11. Cai, Meina & Caskey, Gregory W. & Cowen, Nick & Murtazashvili, Ilia & Murtazashvili, Jennifer Brick & Salahodjaev, Raufhon, 2022. "Individualism, economic freedom, and charitable giving," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 868-884.
    12. Righetto, Giovanni, 2023. "Marriage patterns and the gender gap in labor force participation: Evidence from Italy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    13. Jérémie Bertrand & Paul-Olivier Klein & Fotios Pasiouras, 2024. "National culture of secrecy and firms’ access to credit," Post-Print hal-04691594, HAL.
    14. Benjamin Enke, 2019. "Kinship, Cooperation, and the Evolution of Moral Systems," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 953-1019.
    15. Jacob Moscona & Nathan Nunn & James A. Robinson, 2018. "Social Structure and Conflict: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," HiCN Working Papers 264, Households in Conflict Network.
    16. Jonathan F. Schulz, 2016. "The Churches’ Bans on Consanguineous Marriages, Kin-networks and Democracy," Discussion Papers 2016-16, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    17. Bahrami-Rad, Duman, 2021. "Keeping it in the family: Female inheritance, inmarriage, and the status of women," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    18. Ali, Merima & Fjeldstad, Odd‐Helge & Shifa, Abdulaziz B., 2020. "European colonization and the corruption of local elites: The case of chiefs in Africa," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 80-100.
    19. Bau, Natalie, 2019. "Can Policy Change Culture? Government Pension Plans and Traditional Kinship Practices," CEPR Discussion Papers 13486, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Benjamin Enke, 2018. "Kinship Systems, Cooperation, and the Evolution of Culture," CESifo Working Paper Series 6867, CESifo.
    21. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian & Jaya Wen, 2018. "Distrust and Political Turnover during Economic Crises," NBER Working Papers 24187, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    corruption; fractionalization; institutions; mating patterns; consanguinity; experiments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • D0 - Microeconomics - - General
    • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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