Building connections: Political corruption and road construction in India
Oliver Vanden Eynde
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1284343
- IdHAL : oliver-vanden-eynde
- ORCID : 0000-0002-2396-1248
Résumé
Politically-driven corruption is a pervasive challenge for development, but evidence of its welfare effects are scarce. Using data from a major rural road construction programme in India we document political influence in a setting where politicians have no official role in contracting decisions. Exploiting close elections to identify the causal effect of coming to power, we show that the share of contractors whose name matches that of the winning politician increases by 83% (from 4% to 7%) in the term after a close election compared to the term before. Regression discontinuity estimates at the road level show that political interference raises the cost of road construction and increases the likelihood that roads go missing.
Domaines
Economies et financesFormat du dépôt | Notice |
---|---|
Type de dépôt | Article dans une revue |
Titre |
en
Building connections: Political corruption and road construction in India
|
Résumé |
en
Politically-driven corruption is a pervasive challenge for development, but evidence of its welfare effects are scarce. Using data from a major rural road construction programme in India we document political influence in a setting where politicians have no official role in contracting decisions. Exploiting close elections to identify the causal effect of coming to power, we show that the share of contractors whose name matches that of the winning politician increases by 83% (from 4% to 7%) in the term after a close election compared to the term before. Regression discontinuity estimates at the road level show that political interference raises the cost of road construction and increases the likelihood that roads go missing.
|
Auteur(s) |
Jonathan Lehne
1, 2
, Jacob Shapiro
3
, Oliver Vanden Eynde
1, 2
1
PJSE -
Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques
( 1171428 )
- 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris
- France
2
PSE -
Paris School of Economics
( 301309 )
- 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris
- France
3
Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
( 501986 )
- 20 Prospect Ave, Princeton, NJ 08540, États-Unis
- États-Unis
|
Langue du document |
Anglais
|
Nom de la revue |
|
Vulgarisation |
Non
|
Comité de lecture |
Oui
|
Audience |
Internationale
|
Date de publication |
2018-03
|
Volume |
131
|
Page/Identifiant |
62 - 78
|
Domaine(s) |
|
Mots-clés (JEL) |
|
Mots-clés |
en
Corruption, Political connections, Public procurement, Kinship networks
|
DOI | 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.10.009 |
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