Connected national capital: Corporations in colonial and independent Egypt
利用埃及所有公司、创始人及政治官员的新数据集，发现政治关联在殖民时期降低公司盈利，因被视为亲民族主义；独立后则通过优惠准入和竞争保护提升绩效，反映了从自由放任殖民体制到选择性扶持的民族主义产业政策的转变。
We use a newly assembled dataset covering all Egyptian corporations, their founders, and political officeholders, to demonstrate the differential impact of political connections on firm performance across two distinctive political and economic contexts. Before Egypt’s independence in 1922, political connections reduced firm profitability, as connected firms were perceived to be aligned with the anti-colonial, nationalist movement, unsettling investors. After independence, connections improved firm outcomes by granting preferential access to incorporation and shielding connected companies from competition. These dynamics reflect the shift from a laissez-faire colonial regime to a nationalist industrial policy that selectively favored politically connected firms.