elite capture

Efforts to close gender gaps in politics have focused heavily on getting women elected to parliament, but this overlooks the very different challenges facing non-elite women. New research examines how patriarchal norms, social networks, and a lack of independent decision-making shape women's political engagement across the world.

Using surnames, we show that colonial-era hierarchies continue to shape access to Colombia’s best schools and elite social networks, limiting intergenerational mobility through both education and marriage.

Group incentives can lead agricultural cooperative managers to improve production quality, but increasing transparency around incentives can backfire

Allowing old-regime agents to remain in power during democratic transitions facilitates elite capture, which lowers public good provision