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Accountability and Incentives of Appointed and Elected Public Officials

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  • Zohal Hessami

    (University of Konstanz)

Abstract

Political agency models suggest that elected public officials choose different policies than appointed officials do. This paper is the first (a) to apply a clean empirical design to study whether the selection rule has a causal effect on public officials’ policy choices and (b) to investigate transmission channels. I exploit a unique setting in Germany, where a reform has created quasi-experimental variation in the selection rule for mayors. As the outcome variable, I use data on grant receipts for highly visible investment projects for which mayors must apply to the state government. Elected mayors attract 7% to 7.4% more grants in election years; for appointed mayors, there is no cycle. Using hand-collected data on mayor characteristics, I find suggestive evidence that although the selection of mayors changes following the reform studied, a likely reason for the observed cycle is that elected mayors have stronger electoral incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Zohal Hessami, 2018. "Accountability and Incentives of Appointed and Elected Public Officials," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(1), pages 51-64, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:100:y:2018:i:1:p:51-64
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