An Empirical Analysis of Political Dynasties in the 15th Philippine Congress

Abstract:     
This paper develops metrics to analyze the extent to which political dynasties in the 15th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines are linked to different social and economic outcomes in the country. Such a detailed empirical mapping and analysis of political dynasties is the first of its kind from the country. Results show that representatives from political dynasties account for 70 percent of the jurisdiction-based legislators in Congress. On average, they possess higher net worth and win in elections by larger margins of victory compared to non-dynastic representatives. Dynastic jurisdictions are also associated with lower standards of living (as measured by average income) and lower human development (as measured by the Human Development Index), and higher levels of deprivation (as measured by poverty incidence, poverty gap, and poverty severity). Results on the correlates of dynastic prevalence and inequality are less conclusive.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 41

Keywords: democracy, political dynasty, inclusive growth, political equality, social inequality

JEL Classification: D70, J45, N41, N42

working papers series