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Business as usual: Politicians with business experience, government budgets, and policy outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Brian Beach

    (Department of Economics, The College of William and Mary)

  • Daniel Jones

    (Department of Economics, University of South Carolina)

Abstract

Are budget and policy outcomes different under politicians with business experience? We study California city councils and implement a regression discontinuity strategy to provide causal evidence on this issue. Ultimately, we find no evidence that the election of a candidate with business experience has an impact on city expenditures, revenues, debt ratios, unemployment rates, and other outcomes. Future vote shares for candidates with business experience are also unaffected, which suggests that businesspersons are not having an impact that is observed to voters but unobserved in our data. We find weak evidence that the election of a businessperson may lead to lower borrowing costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian Beach & Daniel Jones, 2016. "Business as usual: Politicians with business experience, government budgets, and policy outcomes," Working Papers 169, Department of Economics, College of William and Mary.
    • Handle: RePEc:cwm:wpaper:169
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    File URL: http://economics.wm.edu/wp/cwm_wp169.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Luis Diaz-Serrano & Giorgos Kallis, 2022. "Political leaders with professional background in business and climate outcomes," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Bordignon, Massimo & Gamalerio, Matteo & Turati, Gilberto, 2020. "Manager or professional politician? Local fiscal autonomy and the skills of elected officials," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Paul Pelzl & Steven Poelhekke, 2023. "Democratization, leader education and growth: firm-level evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 571-600, December.
    4. Scharfenkamp, Katrin, 2018. "The effects of bridging business and politics – A survival analysis of German Federal ministers," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 433-454.
    5. Niklas Potrafke, 2024. "The Economic Consequences of Businesspeople in Politics: A Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 11502, CESifo.
    6. Shi, Ying & Singleton, John D., 2019. "Expertise and Independence on Governing Boards: Evidence from School Districts," IZA Discussion Papers 12414, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Brian Beach & Daniel B. Jones & Tate Twinam & Randall Walsh, 2018. "Minority Representation in Local Government," NBER Working Papers 25192, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    JEL classification:

    • E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

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