We study the long-run implications of regional and ethnic favoritism in Africa. Combining geocoded individual-level survey data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) with data on national leaders’ birthplaces across 41 African countries, we explore the educational attainment of adults...

Favoritism is the act of offering jobs, contracts and resources to members of one's social group in preference to outsiders. Favoritism is widely practiced and this motivates an exploration of its origins and economic consequences. Our main finding is that individuals have an interest to trade...

Is the strength of favoritism from social ties gender-dependent? Collecting election data of the most distinguished Chinese scientific academies over a decade, we find favoritism from some social connections, such as sharing a hometown, college, or employer, between recruiters and candidates can...

In the United States, the term “crony capitalism” refers to a political-economic system that resembles traditional political “corporatism.” As used here, it describes a system in which government, big business, and powerful interest groups (especially labor unions) work together to...