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Electoral Competition and Local Government Responsiveness in Brazil

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  • Arvate, Paulo Roberto

Abstract

The empirical literature on the effects of competition on the supply of public goods shows controversial results at the local level. The main objective of this paper is to investigate this relationship in a federalist country (Brazil) where the political system places few barriers to the entry of competitors and local governments have the independence to establish their own public policy. We show that a higher effective number of candidates running for the executive branch increase the supply of local public goods (the number of student enrollments, teachers, and free immunizations).

Suggested Citation

  • Arvate, Paulo Roberto, 2013. "Electoral Competition and Local Government Responsiveness in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 67-83.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:43:y:2013:i:c:p:67-83
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.11.004
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    3. Taiwo, Kayode, 2020. "The effect of decentralisation on access to sanitation and water services: An empirical test using international data," MPRA Paper 105426, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Claudio Ferraz & Federico Finan & Monica Maretinez-Bravo, 2020. "Political Power, Elite Control, and Long-Run Development: Evidence from Brazil," Working Papers wp2020_2008, CEMFI.
    5. Amendolagine, Vito & von Jacobi, Nadia, 2023. "Symbiotic relationships among formal and informal institutions: Comparing five Brazilian cultural ecosystems," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    6. Marco Frank & David Stadelmann, 2021. "Political competition and legislative shirking in roll-call votes: Evidence from Germany for 1953–2017," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 555-575, December.
    7. Rojas Rivera, Angela Milena & Molina Guerra, Carlos A., 2015. "A Comparative Analysis of Political Competition and Local Provision of Public Goods: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico(1991-2010)," MPRA Paper 67383, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Oct 2015.
    8. Alexandre B Cunha & Emanuel Ornelas, 2018. "The Limits of Political Compromise: Debt Ceilings and Political Turnover," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 781-824.
    9. Kailthya, Subham & Kambhampati, Uma, 2022. "Political competition and public healthcare: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    10. Jahen F. Rezki, 2022. "Political competition and economic performance: evidence from Indonesia," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 83-114, June.
    11. Arvate, Paulo Roberto & Figueiredo, Dalila, 2016. "Another argument against negotiated grants: how the bill for local corruption is distributed," Textos para discussão 432, FGV EESP - Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil).
    12. Vortherms, Samantha A., 2019. "Disaggregating China’s local political budget cycles: “Righting” the U," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 95-109.
    13. Rezki, Jahen Fachrul, 2018. "Political Competition and Local Government Performance: Evidence from Indonesia," SocArXiv nekps, Center for Open Science.
    14. Sávio L. C. Oliveira & Wallace Patrick S. F. Souza, 2022. "Political competition and candidate selection in Brazilian municipalities," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(2), pages 1171-1179.

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