EliteCap

About EliteCap

Elite capture is a form of corruption whereby public resources are biased
for the benefit of a few individuals of superior social status in detriment
to the welfare of the larger population.
Elites are groups of individuals who because of self-ratifying factors
like social class, asset-ownership, religious affiliations, political power,
historically discriminated social groups, political party affiliation, economic
position, etc have decision-making power in processes of public concern.
This specific form of corruption means that elites deviate public funds,
originally aimed to be invested in the larger population, to fund projects that
would only benefit them, differentiating elite capture from embezzlement,
misappropriation or other diversion of funds by a public official.
Elite capture is related to information asymmetry, inefficient regulation
or inefficient allocation of resources because it causes a biased distribution
of a public good or a service, resulting in the case where certain segments of
the population experience reduced access to them than others. In this context,
as long as there is evidence of elite capture taking place the welfare impact
will not be Pareto Optimal nor equitable.