Political Networks Across the Globe

Commander, Simon John; Poupakis, Stavros

Download This Paper

Open PDF in Browser

Add Paper to My Library

Political Networks Across the Globe

IZA Discussion Paper No. 13103

26 Pages Posted: 6 Apr 2020 Last revised: 6 May 2025

See all articles by Simon John Commander

Simon John Commander

London Business School; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Stavros Poupakis

Brunel University London - Department of Economics and Finance

Abstract

Political networks are an important feature of the political and economic landscape of countries. Despite their ubiquity and significance, information on such networks has proven hard to collect due to a pervasive lack of transparency. However, with the advent of big data and artificial intelligence, major financial services institutions are now actively collating publicly available information on politically exposed persons and their networks. In this study, we use one such data set to show how network characteristics vary across political systems. We provide results from more than 150 countries and show how the format of the network tends to reflect the extent of democratisation of each country. We also outline further avenues for research using such data.

Keywords: political networks, rent-seeking, democratic consolidation

JEL Classification: D72, H11, P26, P36, N44

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Commander, Simon John and Poupakis, Stavros, Political Networks Across the Globe. IZA Discussion Paper No. 13103, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3568308