Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Political Determinants of Economic Exchange

基本经济交流中的信任是经济发展的重要基石。这种对经济交流的信心经常受到国家机构的影响，这些国家机构拥有执行合同的权力，以确保协议不会被破坏。然而，在世界上许多地方，薄弱的国家机构限制了公民和企业对合同和交易将得到公平执行的信心。其结果是，经济交流被扼杀，低效持续存在。了解合同和经济交换如何受到影响，特别是在只有少数人享有特权使用国家机构的情况下，这对发展至关重要，但尚未得到很好的理解。该项目将评估不同程度的政治联系如何影响经济交流。这项研究的结果将为不同的战略如何在法治在公民中分布不均的地区刺激经济发展提供有价值的见解。技术摘要该项目包括一个公司领导人之间的联合实验，以及一个创新的现场实验，以评估不同程度的联系如何影响弱国的经济交换。在弱国政治网络、合同和经济交换方面现有工作的基础上，这一联合实验将有助于确定对发展中经济体的公司最重要的潜在商业合作伙伴的特征。随机对照试验(RCT)将通过随机改变参与交换的双方之间的联系信号，并观察这些信号如何作用于产生的合同和交易，来测试政治联系如何影响现实背景下的变化。这一发现将是对政治关系对经济交换影响的首批因果估计之一。

General AbstractConfidence in basic economic exchange is an important building block for economies. This confidence in economic exchange is often affected by state institutions that possess the authority to enforce contracts which ensure agreements are not broken. In much of the world, however, weak state institutions limit the confidence of citizens and businesses that contracts and deals will be enforced fairly. As a result, economic exchange is stifled and inefficiencies persist. Understanding how contracts and economic exchange are affected, particularly in contexts where only a subset of individuals enjoy privileged access to state institutions, is essential for development yet not well understood. This project will assess how varying levels political connectivity influences economic exchange. The findings from this study will provide valuable insight as to how different strategies can spur economic development in areas where the rule of law is not evenly distributed among citizens.Technical AbstractThis project consists of a conjoint experiment among firm leaders, as well as an innovative field experiment to assess how varying degrees of connectedness influences economic exchange in weak states. Building off existing work on political networks, contracting, and economic exchange in a weak state, this conjoint experiment will help to identify the characteristics of potential business partners that matter most to firms in developing economies. The randomized control trial (RCT) will test how political connections affect change in realistic contexts, by randomly varying signals of connections between the two parties engaged in exchange, and observing how these signals serve to shape the contracts and deals that result. The findings will be among the first causal estimates of the impact of political connections on economic exchange.