Misallocation, Political Connections, and Firms’ Performance

The aim of this research is to understand the misallocation of resources and talent that arises from preferential political relationships or connections. In particular I propose three different projects in three different developing countries that study this question from different angles. In the first project I study the effects of Chile’s transition to democracy on firm and industry growth. The second measures the impact of audits on local governments on local firms in Brazil. Finally, the last one studies the role of transparency and trust in business networks and firm performance in the construction sector in Uganda.