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Family Networks and Distributive Politics

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  • Fafchamps, Marcel
  • Labonne, Julien
Abstract
We argue that incumbents share rents with central players to build and sustain coalitions. Using an unusually rich dataset, we show that households with high betweenness centrality – a measure of brokerage potential – receive more public services from their local government. This result is robust to the inclusion of controls for program eligibility, family ties with politicians, and other measures of centrality – which are not significant once betweenness is included. We provide further corroboration from indirect evidence from variation in size and electoral competition across municipalities. Finally, we show that in municipalities where politicians provide more goods and services to their relatives they target fewer goods to households with high betweenness centrality. The evidence supports the hypothesis that incumbent municipal politicians offer favorable access to public services to households most able to play a brokerage role in the formation of coalitions of families for electoral support.

Suggested Citation

  • Fafchamps, Marcel & Labonne, Julien, 2016. "Family Networks and Distributive Politics," CEPR Discussion Papers 11245, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11245
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcel Fafchamps & Julien Labonne, 2016. "Using Split Samples to Improve Inference about Causal Effects," NBER Working Papers 21842, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Angelucci, Manuela & De Giorgi, Giacomo & Rangel, Marcos A. & Rasul, Imran, 2010. "Family networks and school enrolment: Evidence from a randomized social experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3-4), pages 197-221, April.
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    4. Vivi Alatas & Abhijit Banerjee & Rema Hanna & Benjamin A. Olken & Ririn Purnamasari & Matthew Wai-Poi, 2019. "Does Elite Capture Matter? Local Elites and Targeted Welfare Programs in Indonesia," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 334-339, May.
    5. Bardhan, Pranab & Mookherjee, Dilip, 2006. "Pro-poor targeting and accountability of local governments in West Bengal," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 303-327, April.
    6. Nichter, Simeon, 2008. "Vote Buying or Turnout Buying? Machine Politics and the Secret Ballot," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 102(1), pages 19-31, February.
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    8. Vivi Alatas & Abhijit Banerjee & Rema Hanna & Benjamin A. Olken & Ririn Purnamasari & Matthew Wai-Poi, 2016. "Self-Targeting: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(2), pages 371-427.
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    12. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano, 2011. "Family Ties And Political Participation," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(5), pages 817-839, October.
    13. Galasso, Emanuela & Ravallion, Martin, 2005. "Decentralized targeting of an antipoverty program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 705-727, April.
    14. Timothy Besley & Rohini Pande & Lupin Rahman & Vijayendra Rao, 2004. "The Politics of Public Good Provision: Evidence from Indian Local Governments," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(2-3), pages 416-426, 04/05.
    15. Manuela Angelucci & Giacomo De Giorgi & Imran Rasul, 2018. "Consumption and Investment in Resource Pooling Family Networks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(615), pages 2613-2651, November.
    16. Bardhan, Pranab & Mookherjee, Dilip, 2005. "Decentralizing antipoverty program delivery in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 675-704, April.
    17. Joseph J. Capuno, 2012. "The PIPER forum on 20 years of fiscal decentralization: a synthesis," Philippine Review of Economics, University of the Philippines School of Economics and Philippine Economic Society, vol. 49(1), pages 191-202, June.
    18. Scott, James C., 1972. "Patron-Client Politics and Political Change in Southeast Asia," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(1), pages 91-113, March.
    19. Fafchamps, Marcel & Labonne, Julien, 2017. "Using Split Samples to Improve Inference on Causal Effects," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(4), pages 465-482, October.
    20. Marcel Fafchamps & Julien Labonne, 2017. "Do Politicians’ Relatives Get Better Jobs? Evidence from Municipal Elections," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(2), pages 268-300.
    21. Pranab Bardhan, 2016. "State and Development: The Need for a Reappraisal of the Current Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(3), pages 862-892, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Raúl Duarte & Frederico Finan & Horacio Larreguy & Laura Schechter, 2019. "Brokering Votes With Information Spread Via Social Networks," NBER Working Papers 26241, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Comola, Margherita & Rusinowska, Agnieszka & Villeval, Marie Claire, 2024. "Competing for Influence in Networks through Strategic Targeting," IZA Discussion Papers 17315, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Margherita Comola & Agnieszka Rusinowska & Marie Claire Villeval, 2024. "Competing for Influence in Networks Through Strategic Targeting [En compétition pour l'influence dans les réseaux grâce au ciblage stratégique]," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-04706311, HAL.
    4. Giommoni, Tommaso, 2024. "A fistful of dollars: Rent seeking behaviour and local tax manipulation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 453-469.
    5. Grácio, Matilde & Vicente, Pedro C., 2021. "Information, get-out-the-vote messages, and peer influence: Causal effects on political behavior in Mozambique," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. González, Felipe & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2021. "Lost in transition? The persistence of dictatorship mayors," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    7. Caria, A. Stefano & Labonne, Julien, 2024. "Village social structure and labor market performance: Evidence from the Philippines," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 371-380.

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