Rent Seeking in Elite Networks

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Haselmann, Rainer; Schoenherr, David; Vig, Vikrant
• 署名单位: Goethe University Frankfurt; Princeton University; University of London; London Business School; Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/697742
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 1638-1690
• 关键词: government ownership; distance; MARKET; IMPACT; incentives; FIRMS

摘要

We employ a unique data set on members of an elite service club in Germany to investigate how social connections in elite networks affect the allocation of resources. Specifically, we investigate credit allocation decisions of banks to firms inside the network. Using a quasi-experimental research design, we document misallocation of bank credit inside the network, with bankers with weakly aligned incentives engaging most actively in crony lending. Our findings, thus, resonate with existing theories of elite networks as rent extractive coalitions that stifle economic prosperity.