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Run for your life? The effect of close elections on the life expectancy of politicians

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  • Borgschulte, Mark
  • Vogler, Jacob

Abstract

We estimate the causal effect of election to political office on natural lifespan using a regression discontinuity design and a novel dataset of winning and losing candidates for US governor, senator, and House representative. We find that candidates gain over a year of life from winning a close election. The effect is strongest for governors, and has grown larger over the course of US history. We also examine the effect of stress experienced in office, finding that serving in more challenging situations is not associated with reduced lifespan.

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  • Borgschulte, Mark & Vogler, Jacob, 2019. "Run for your life? The effect of close elections on the life expectancy of politicians," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 18-32.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:167:y:2019:i:c:p:18-32
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2019.09.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Bach, Laurent & Guillouzouic, Arthur & Malgouyres, Clément, 2021. "Does holding elections during a Covid-19 pandemic put the lives of politicians at risk?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Malmendier, Ulrike M. & Borgschulte, Mark & Guenzel, Marius & Liu, Canyao, 2020. "CEO Stress, Aging, and Death," CEPR Discussion Papers 14933, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Leive, Adam, 2018. "Dying to win? Olympic Gold medals and longevity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 193-204.
    4. Tom Nicholas, 2023. "Status and mortality: Is there a Whitehall effect in the United States?," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1191-1230, November.
    5. Sasaki, Shusaku & Kurokawa, Hirofumi & Ohtake, Fumio, 2019. "Positive and negative effects of social status on longevity: Evidence from two literary prizes in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Borgschulte, Mark & Guenzel, Marius & Liu, Canyao & Malmendier, Ulrike, 2023. "CEO Stress, Aging, and Death," IZA Discussion Papers 16366, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Keloharju, Matti & Knüpfer, Samuli & Tåg, Joacim, 2020. "CEO Health," Working Paper Series 1326, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 30 May 2022.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mortality; Status; Longevity; Stress; Politicians; Regression discontinuity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination

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