Measuring Elite Quality

Tomas Casas i Klett, Guido Cozzi, Celine Diebold and Camille Zeller

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The aim of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, we present a methodology to measure the novel concept of elite quality (EQ), that is, country’s elites’ propensity– on aggregate – to create value, rather than rent seek. A four-level architecture allows for both an overall quantification of a country’s EQ, as well as an in-depth analysis of specific political economy dimensions, such as elite power. Secondly, the Elite Quality Index (EQx) is brought to life using data on 72 indicators for 32 countries. Our index negatively correlates with inequality measures, which suggests that more powerful elites less inclined to run value creation business models will exacerbate inequality. A variety of robustness tests suggest that the EQx scores and ranking are robust to ceteris paribus changes in key modelling assumptions. Thus, the EQx offers a reliable framework and new tool to analyze the political economy of countries.

Keywords: index; elite quality; institutions; value creation; rent seeking; crony capitalism. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 F5 P16 P48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-07-25
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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