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Votes and regional economic growth: evidence from Turkey

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  • Luca, Davide

Abstract

In countries where governments’ disproportionate power over the bureaucracy is coupled with a strong political polarization, can votes for the national incumbent party “buy” preferential policy treatment and faster regional economic growth? The article tests such question on Turkey’s 81 provinces over 2004–12. Results uncover a link between votes and faster regional growth, as well as a small influence of preferential allocations in explaining it. Yet, after addressing potential endogeneity, economic performance is almost entirely explained by standard drivers, primarily human capital endowment. Results suggest that the impact of electorally motivated distributive politics on regions’ economic performance is extremely limited.

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  • Luca, Davide, 2015. "Votes and regional economic growth: evidence from Turkey," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65809, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:65809
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    2. Pinar Deniz & Burhan Can Karahasan & Mehmet Pinar, 2021. "Determinants of regional distribution of AKP votes: Analysis of post‐2002 parliamentary elections," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 323-352, April.
    3. Davide Luca, 2017. "Boon or bane for development? Turkey’s central state bureaucracy and the management of public investment," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(6), pages 939-957, September.
    4. Burhan Can Karahasan, 2020. "Winners and losers of rapid growth in Turkey: Analysis of the spatial variability of convergence," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 603-644, June.
    5. Songul Cinaroglu, 2019. "Politics and health outcomes: A path analytic approach," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 824-843, January.
    6. Cem Özgüzel, 2019. "Agglomeration Effects In A Developing Economy Evidence From Turkey," Working Papers 1341, Economic Research Forum, revised 20 Aug 2019.
    7. Levoshko, Tamila, 2017. ""Pork-Barrel"-Politik und das regionale Wirtschaftswachstum. Empirische Evidenz für die Ukraine und Polen," Working Papers 0642, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    8. Ali T. Akarca, 2017. "Economic Voting Under Single-Party and Coalition Governments: Evidence From The Turkish Case," Working Papers 1128, Economic Research Forum, revised 08 2017.
    9. Oyvat, Cem & Tekgüç, Hasan, 2017. "Double squeeze on educational development: land inequality and ethnic conflict in Southeastern Turkey," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 16812, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    10. Timini, Jacopo, 2020. "Staying dry on Spanish wine: The rejection of the 1905 Spanish-Italian trade agreement," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
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    12. Cem Ozguzel, 2019. "Essays on migration and productivity [Essais sur les migrations et la productivité]," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) tel-03381203, HAL.
    13. Davide Luca, 2022. "National elections, sub-national growth: the politics of Turkey’s provincial economic dynamics under AKP rule [Shift-share designs: theory and inference]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 829-851.
    14. Antonio Accetturo & Giuseppe Albanese & Alessio D'Ignazio, 2020. "A new phoenix? Large plants regeneration policies in Italy," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 878-902, November.
    15. Davide Luca, 2018. "Picking Winners at the Ballot Box: Votes and Local Economic Growth in Turkey," Working Papers 1232, Economic Research Forum, revised 10 Oct 2018.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    distributive politics; votes; political cleavages; regional economic growth; Middle-East; Turkey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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