The impact of individual wealth on posterior political power

Martín Rossi

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2014, vol. 106, issue C, 469-480

Abstract: I exploit a unique historical event to explore the causal relationship between individual wealth and posterior political power. Shortly after the founding of Buenos Aires, plots of land in the outskirts of the city were randomly assigned to all heads of household that participated in the expedition. Using this random allocation of land as a source of exogenous variation in individuals’ wealth, I find that wealth causes political power. I also explore possible mechanisms and find support for the hypothesis that wealth signals (or improves) ability.

Keywords: Elites; Political dynasties; Representative political power; Natural experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D70 J45 N46 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Impact of Individual Wealth on Posterior Political Power (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:106:y:2014:i:c:p:469-480

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2014.08.006

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