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Educated politicians and government efficiency: Evidence from Norwegian local government

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  • Sørensen, Rune J.

Abstract

The paper studies the effect of politicians’ education levels on government efficiency. Using data on Norwegian local government, the paper measures efficiency by DEA-productivity indicators and comprehensive indicators of service production. The identification of causal effects exploits close (within-list) elections to design an instrumental variable for council shares with higher education.

Suggested Citation

  • Sørensen, Rune J., 2023. "Educated politicians and government efficiency: Evidence from Norwegian local government," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 163-179.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:210:y:2023:i:c:p:163-179
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.04.007
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Efficiency; Descriptive representation; Politicians’ education level; Local government;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H44 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General

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