PATRIMONIAL PIRACY? PATRONAGE CENTRALIZATION AND PIRACY IN THE GULF OF GUINEA

Abstract

Nigeria and Angola demonstrate a similar set of motive and permissive conditions for piracy based on the variables identified in the existing literature, yet the two countries have experienced very different levels of piracy. This thesis borrows from recent patrimonialism research that identifies the effect of rent management practices on developmental outcomes. In a similar fashion, this thesis engages in a qualitative, most-similar-systems comparative case study of Nigeria and Angola to investigate the role of a previously unexamined variable: the degree to which elite rent management strategies and patronage structures foster or inhibit a permissive environment in which piracy can flourish. Specifically, this thesis argues that decentralized rent management practices heighten the incentives for piracy in Nigeria, while highly centralized rent management discourages piracy in Angola. These results suggest that levels of piracy will remain high in Nigeria and low in Angola.