This paper investigates the impact of elite capture on the allocation of targeted government welfare programs in … Indonesia, using both a high-stakes field experiment that varied the extent of elite influence and non-experimental data on a … lists. However, while elite capture exists, the welfare losses it creates appear small: since formal elites and their …

We study the causes and consequences of patronage in Brazilian cities since the country's re-democratization. We test … patronage for public finances. Our data consist of the universe of public sector employees merged with their party affiliations …, and a dynamic regression discontinuity design is applied to disentangle patronage from the growing political participation …

Can campaign promises change voter behavior, even where clientelism and vote buying are pervasive? We elicit …

Political clientelism is often deemed to undermine democratic accountability and representation. This study argues that … economic vulnerability causes citizens to participate in clientelism. We test this hypothesis with a randomized control trial … typically have more resources to engage in clientelism. Our evidence points to a persistent reduction in clientelism, given that …