The revolving door for political elites: policymakers’ professional background and financial regulation

By Elisa Wirsching

This paper looks at how the career paths of central bank governors and finance ministers affect financial regulation. Using a dataset of more than 400 central bank governors and finance ministers from 32 OECD countries between 1973 and 2005, we try to answer questions such as: are financial sector veterans in senior government posts more likely to deregulate the financial industry; and are policymakers rewarded with lucrative future industry employment if they embark on deregulatory reforms during their time in office?Read paper