Existing literature on political dynasties argues that dynastic candidates enjoy a disproportionate electoral advantage. Theoretically, the presence of political dynasties can be considered as a non-institutional barrier to candidacy in the election. Using constituency-level data on national...

We study how natural resource rents affect the selection and behavior of holders of public office. Using global price shocks to thirty-one minerals and nationwide geological and political data from India, we show that local mineral rent shocks cause the election of criminal politicians. We also...

Politicians are persons involved in the process of public policymaking in their role as members of governments, parliaments, political parties, and other political bodies at the (sub)national level (e.g., local government, state legislature, national parliament, etc.) as well as within the...

We examine whether conservative politicians are less likely to support same-sex marriage when they run for office in safe districts using new data based on a roll-call vote in the national German parliament. The results show that the margin of the majority for the incumbent in the previous...

This essay, having identified the failure of political leadership as the bane of economic development and democracy in Africa, has outlined mechanisms for selecting high quality leaders into public office. In the first stage of the screening process, certain elements of costs are imposed on the...

We document a direct channel through which financial institutions contribute to the net worth of members of the U.S. Congress, particularly those sitting on the finance committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives. These individuals report greater levels of leverage and new...

From the viewpoint of Public Choice theory, the logic of electoral competition makes it difficult for rational, self-interested politicians to advance unpopular reforms. As political decision-makers have primarily the aim of re-election in mind, 'inconvenient' scientific policy advice often...

Information affecting a candidate's reputation might have significant electoral consequences. Do candidates respond to the release of information? Using Brazilian elections and audits as an exogenous source of information, I show that both incumbent and challenger increase their campaign...

We examine whether voters rewarded conservative politicians who were voting in favor of same-sex marriage. Data is based on a roll-call vote in the German national parliament (Bundestag) in June 2017. This roll-call vote drastically influenced the public discourse about the social political...