Political Parties in Business: Rent Seekers, Developmentalists, or Both?

Ruling party-owned conglomerates (Parbus) are emerging in some post-conflict African economies following state capture by ethnic parties. We offer an analytical framework, buttressed by four country case studies of ‘developmental ethnocracies’ in Africa and Asia to identify when Parbus dominance can be redistributive wealth-seeking and when wealth-creating. Four regime characteristics underpin the prospects for wealth creation over rent-seeking: legitimation angst, organisational capacity, ideology, and degree of state centralisation. Three evolutionary paths (perhaps stages) suggest themselves: paragonist that is inclusive and growth friendly, parasitic engendering a poverty-tyranny trap and mutualist exemplified by a destabilising contest among party, state and private interests.