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Electoral Rules for Mayors and Incentives to Pork-Barrel: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from German Municipalities

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  • Hessami, Zohal

Abstract

This paper exploits a natural experiment in Hesse where a reform of the electoral rule from mayor appointment by the local council towards direct mayor elections was introduced during a phase-in period from 1993 to 1998. The end of the term of the last appointed mayor varies across municipalities for exogenous historical reasons and determines the timing of the switch in a particular municipality. Di fference-in-di fference estimations for 421 municipalities over the period from 1981 to 2010 reveal that municipalities with a directly elected mayor attract 5% more investment transfers from the state tier. This e ffect only materializes in the election year which suggests that mayors under the new electoral rule put more e ffort into grant applications for highly visible infrastructure projects in order to increase their re-election probability.

Suggested Citation

  • Hessami, Zohal, 2014. "Electoral Rules for Mayors and Incentives to Pork-Barrel: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from German Municipalities," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100432, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100432
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    Cited by:

    1. Baskaran, Thushyanthan & Lopes da Fonseca, Mariana, 2016. "Electoral competition and endogenous political institutions: Quasi-experimental evidence from Germany," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 43-61.
    2. Monika Köppl-Turyna, 2016. "Opportunistic politicians and fiscal outcomes: the curious case of Vorarlberg," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 177-216, September.
    3. Thushyanthan Baskaran, 2016. "Intergovernmental Transfers, Local Fiscal Policy, and the Flypaper Effect: Evidence from a German State," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 72(1), pages 1-40, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

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