Definitely not, but the furthest away the ones profiting from something are, the worse it can get. It is definitely not a guarantee that a local enriching elit

Definitely not, but the furthest away the ones profiting from something are, the worse it can get. It is definitely not a guarantee that a local enriching elite will at some point lead to something better, but most examples that come to mind about "colonies" (places very far from a center of power), resulted in said places to develop much harder.