Succession Rules and Leadership Rents

32 Pages Posted: 28 Sep 2005

See all articles by Kai A. Konrad

Kai A. Konrad

Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Stergios Skaperdas

University of California - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: September 2005

Abstract

Leaders compensate supporters not just for performing their duties but also in order to preempt an overthrow by the same supporters. We show how succession rules affect the power of leaders relative to supporters as well as the resources expended on possible succession struggles. We compare two regimes of leadership succession: the conclave regime and the divide-et-impera regime which differ with respect to the role of supporters of the previous leader once the new leader takes power. The leadership rent is higher and supporters receive a lower compensation in the divide-et-impera regime, as supporters have to fight harder for succession to avoid the grim outcome of loss. A leader, then, would like to induce the divide-et-impera regime even when every supporter has veto power over his leadership.

Keywords: political leadership, political support, political survival, successorship

JEL Classification: D72, D74, H50, N40

Suggested Citation

Konrad, Kai A. and Skaperdas, Stergios, Succession Rules and Leadership Rents (September 2005). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 1534, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=812364 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.812364

Kai A. Konrad (Contact Author)

Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance ( email )

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Germany

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Stergios Skaperdas

University of California - Department of Economics ( email )

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United States
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CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

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Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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