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Political polarization, term length and too much delegation

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  • Carsten Hefeker

    (University of Siegen)

Abstract

What is the strategic incentive for governments and societies to delegate decision making to independent agents? I develop a framework taking into account preference uncertainty and the term length of independent agents in an environment with electoral and preference uncertainty and political polarization. Governments and societies face a trade-off concerning the predictability of decisions and the adaptability of to changing preferences. I find that governments, in general, tend to delegate too much and for too long from the point of view of society.

Suggested Citation

  • Carsten Hefeker, 2019. "Political polarization, term length and too much delegation," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 50-69, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:30:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10602-018-9265-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-018-9265-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Reinsberg, Bernhard & Kern, Andreas & Rau-Göhring, Matthias, 2021. "The political economy of IMF conditionality and central bank independence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Delegation; Principal agency problem; Political polarization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General

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