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Lost in transition? The persistence of dictatorship mayors

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  • González, Felipe
  • Muñoz, Pablo
  • Prem, Mounu

Abstract

We look at Chile’s transition to democracy in 1990 to study the persistence of authoritarian politics at the local level. Using new data on the universe of mayors appointed by the Pinochet dictatorship (1973–1990) and leveraging on the arbitrary election rules that characterized the first local election in 1992, we present two main findings. First, dictatorship mayors obtained a vote premium that is larger among the last wave of incumbents and appears partially explained by an increase in local spending. Second, dictatorship mayors who were democratically elected in 1992 brought votes for the parties that collaborated with the dictatorship in subsequent elections held in democracy. These results show that the body of politicians appointed by a dictatorship can contribute to the persistence of elites and institutions.

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  • González, Felipe & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2021. "Lost in transition? The persistence of dictatorship mayors," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:151:y:2021:i:c:s0304387821000481
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102669
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    Cited by:

    1. Deter, Max & Lange, Martin, 2023. "Are the supporters of socialism the losers of capitalism? Conformism in East Germany and transition success," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Bautista, María Angélica & González, Felipe & Martínez, Luis R. & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2023. "The intergenerational transmission of higher education: Evidence from the 1973 coup in Chile," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. María Angelica Bautista & Felipe González & Luis R. Martínez & Pablo Munoz & Mounu Prem, 2018. "The Geography of Repression and Support for Democracy: Evidence from the Pinochet Dictatorship," Documentos de Trabajo 17007, Universidad del Rosario.
    4. Remo Nitschke & Felix Roesel, 2023. "Elite Persistence and Policy Persistence: Re-Installed Mayors from Weimar Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 10251, CESifo.
    5. Einstoss Sebastian, 2023. "Todo está guardado en la memoria: el efecto de la violencia de estado en Argentina (Versión preliminar)," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4648, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    6. Bautista, María Angélica & Gonzalez, Felipe & Martinez, Luis R. & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2022. "The Intergenerational Transmission of College: Evidence from the 1973 Coup in Chile," SocArXiv eyw2a, Center for Open Science.
    7. Shuichiro Nishioka & Sumi Sharma & Tuan Le, 2023. "Political Regimes and Firms' Decisions to Pay Bribes: Theory and Evidence from Firm-level Surveys," Working Papers 23-04, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Politicians; Dictatorship; Democratic transition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • M2 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics

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