Political Power, Elite Control, and Long-Run Development: Evidence from Brazil
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Please follow link to view paper : www.nber.org/papers/w27456

This paper analyzes how changes in the concentration of political power affect long-run development. We study Brazil’s military dictatorship whose rise to power dramatically altered the distribution of power of local political elites. We document that municipalities that were more politically concentrated prior to the dictatorship in the 1960s are relatively richer in 2000, despite being poorer initially. Our evidence suggests that this reversal of fortune was the result of the military’s policies aimed at undermining the power of traditional elites. These policies increased political competition locally, which ultimately led to better governance, more public goods, and higher income levels.

Written with Frederico Finan and Monica Martinez-Bravo
Date: 21 October 2020, 16:00 (Wednesday, 2nd week, Michaelmas 2020)
Venue: Register here - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3916025876476/WN_ZpNIr7SWQ06UV1p-D5ZFmA
Speaker: Claudio Ferraz (Vancouver School of Economics)
Organising department: Department of Economics
Organisers: Emma Riley (Department of Economics, University of Oxford), Margaryta Klymak (Department of International Development), Lukas Hensel (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: suzanne.george@economics.ox.ac.uk
Part of: CSAE Development Economics Webinar Series
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3916025876476/WN_ZpNIr7SWQ06UV1p-D5ZFmA
Audience: Members of the University only
Editors: Suzanne George, Sameer Pathak, Cara Shelton