Do young politicians make a difference? Evidence from local public expenditure in South Korea

A politician’s age is an important individual attribute that can affect policymaking, although extant literature has paid little attention to the effects of representatives’ age on local government budgets. This study examined how the size and composition of local public expenditure are affected by mayors being less than 50 years of age by applying a regression discontinuity design to Korean local elections. We find that young politicians increase the size and proportion of budget spending on economic and cultural affairs, whereas they decrease the size and proportion of budget spending on social protection. A battery of robustness tests yielded similar results. These results indicate that politicians’ age has a significant impact on local public expenditure, which influences short- and long-term policy orientations. In particular, our findings suggest possible evidence that young politicians’ preferences and interests are generally aligned with those of young people, who demand greater attention on economic and cultural affairs. Based on these results, we discuss the possibility of a representative bureaucracy system for younger generations.