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Distributive Politics and Electoral Incentives: Evidence from Seven US State Legislatures

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  • Toke S. Aidt
  • Julia Shvets

Abstract

We study the effect of electoral incentives on the allocation of public services across legislative districts. We develop a model in which elections encourage legislators to cater to parochial interests and thus aggravate the common pool problem. Using unique data from seven US states, we study how the amount of funding that a legislator channels to his district changes when he faces a term limit. We find that legislators bring less pork to their district when they cannot seek re-election. Consistent with the Law of 1/N, this last term reduction in funding is smaller in states with many legislative districts. (JEL D72, H70)

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File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/pol.4.3.1
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.

Volume (Year): 4 (2012)
Issue (Month): 3 (August)
Pages: 1-29

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Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:4:y:2012:i:3:p:1-29

Note: DOI: 10.1257/pol.4.3.1
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  1. Brian Knight, 2005. "Estimating the Value of Proposal Power," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1639-1652, December.
  2. Pettersson-Lidbom, Per, 2012. "Does the size of the legislature affect the size of government? Evidence from two natural experiments," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 269-278.
  3. Gilligan, Thomas W & Matsusaka, John G, 1995. "Deviations from Constituent Interests: The Role of Legislative Structure and Political Parties in the States," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(3), pages 383-401, July.
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Cited by:
  1. Jon X. Eguia & Antonio Nicolò, 2011. "On the Efficiency of Partial Information in Elections," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 234, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
  2. Marroquín Arreola, Juan & Rios Bolívar, Humberto, 2012. "Gasto público, permanencia en el poder y crecimiento económico /Public Spending, Staying Power and Economic Growth," Estudios de Economía Aplicada, Estudios de Economía Aplicada, vol. 30, pages 363 (22 pag, Abril.

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