Working Paper: NBER ID: w18095
Authors: Raymond Fisman; Florian Schulz; Vikrant Vig
Abstract: We study the wealth accumulation of Indian parliamentarians using public disclosures required of all candidates since 2003. Annual asset growth of winners is on average 3 to 6 percentage points higher than runners-up. By performing a within-constituency comparison where both runner-up and winner run in consecutive elections, and by looking at the subsample of very close elections, we rule out a range of alternative explanations for differential earnings of politicians and a relevant control group. The ``winner's premium" comes from parliamentarians holding positions in the Council of Ministers, with asset returns 13 to 29 percentage points higher than non-winners. The benefit of winning is also concentrated among incumbents, because of low asset growth for incumbent non-winners.
Keywords: wealth accumulation; Indian parliamentarians; public office; asset growth; election outcomes
JEL Codes: D72; D73; D78
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Winning politicians (D72) | Higher asset growth rate (G19) |
| Close elections (K16) | Increase in asset growth rate for winners (G19) |
| Incumbents (G18) | Higher winners' premium (D44) |
| Non-incumbents (L39) | Negative return (G19) |
| Council of ministers (H11) | Higher asset returns (G19) |