Elite capture  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 such as social class, asset ownership, religious affiliations, political power, historic discrimination among social groups, political party affiliation, or economic position, have decision-making power in processes of public concern. This specific form of corruption occurs when elites use public funds, originally intended to be invested in services that benefit the larger population, to fund projects that would only benefit them. This differentiates 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 a situation wherein certain segments of the population experience reduced access to these public goods. In this context, as long as there is elite capture, the welfare impact will not be Pareto Optimal nor equitable. For long it was thought that creating decentralized governments would avoid the limitations of a single planner in society. A centralized government often lacks knowledge and might be subject of lobbying, leaving certain territories unattended. On the other hand, theory predicts that when people are involved in governing and have representation in decision making, public spending is supposed to be more efficient, more equitable and more sustainable. However, despite the theoretical predictions, the outcomes of many development projects in decentralized governments have not met these expectations. By yielding power to smaller units, money should be more efficiently distributed, but local governments are more vulnerable to pressure groups. Failure can occur when particular subgroups of the community are able to mobilize resources to further their own self-interest at the expense of the broader community. Local governments are even more vulnerable to capture by local elites than national governments. Attempts to reduce elite capture in decentralized governments range from going back to a heavily centralized planner to providing citizens with funds to initiate projects. This last option has been criticized because the citizens’ ability and skills to actually implement programs may be weaker than that of local leaders. According to the World Bank, development assistance is vulnerable to manipulation or hijack by elites, independently of the form that the assistance may take, because such aid it requires governmental or private agency to ensure transfer to households. It is in this intermediary stage where instances of elite capture are most common. Be it centralized or decentralized government, there is a risk of ineffective public resource delivery involved, where part of the local population will receive more than the rest of the local population.