This empirical study uses data from 1970 to 2010 to estimate levels of neopatrimonialism in Malawi. We then test how neopatrimonialism has affected policy-induced agriculture producer incentives. Three dimensions are used to measure neopatrimonialism – systematic clientelism, a power concentration index, and control of corruption. All were negatively related to the level of producer support provided farmers by government. This suggests that the manifestation of a patronage system creates policy-induced disincentives to agricultural production due to worsening corruption, concentration of political power, and a crowding out of development expenditure by the costs of maintaining a bloated civil service. This result reaffirms the belief that neopatrimonialism results in poor performance of the agricultural sector of countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
By Horace Phiri and Abdi Khalil Edriss, 2013
