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Yardstick Competition: Which Neighbours Matter?

Author

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  • Eric Dubois

    (CERAPS - Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Administratives, Politiques et Sociales - UMR 8026 - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Sonia Paty

    (EQUIPPE - Economie Quantitative, Intégration, Politiques Publiques et Econométrie - Université de Lille, Sciences et Technologies - Université de Lille, Sciences Humaines et Sociales - PRES Université Lille Nord de France - Université de Lille, Droit et Santé, CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This paper aims at testing the existence of yardstick competition by estimating a fully specified vote-function on a panel data set of 104 French local governments from 1989 to 2001. When comparing the performance of their incumbent to the one of their "neighbours", voters might consider their close geographical neighbours but also the nearby cities that are similar according to some socio-economic characteristics such as population size. The estimation results show that voters sanction their incumbent if their own local housing tax is high. Moreover, we find that voters reward their incumbent when neighbouring cities that are similar in terms of demographic characteristics have high local taxes.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric Dubois & Sonia Paty, 2010. "Yardstick Competition: Which Neighbours Matter?," Post-Print hal-00800705, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00800705
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-008-0273-4
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00800705
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    1. Padovano, Fabio & Petrarca, Ilaria, 2014. "Are the responsibility and yardstick competition hypotheses mutually consistent?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 459-477.
    2. Asmae AQZZOUZ & Michel DIMOU, 2022. "Tax mimicking in French counties," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 55, pages 113-132.
    3. Aurélie Cassette & Etienne Farvaque & Jérôme Héricourt, 2013. "Two-round elections, one-round determinants? Evidence from the French municipal elections," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 156(3), pages 563-591, September.
    4. Stijn Baert & Herman Matthijs & Ilse Verdievel, 2019. "Voting with your wallet? Municipal budget policy and election results," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-11, August.
    5. Jaaidane, Touria & Larribeau, Sophie & Leprince, Matthieu, 2020. "The Determinants of French Municipal Labor Demand," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 2003, CEPREMAP.
    6. Luis Ayala & Ana Herrero & Jorge Martinez‐Vazquez, 2021. "Welfare benefits in highly decentralized fiscal systems: Evidence on interregional mimicking," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(5), pages 1178-1208, October.
    7. Füss, Roland & Lerbs, Oliver, 2017. "Do local governments tax homeowner communities differently?," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-036, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Francisco J. Delgado & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Matías Mayor, 2015. "On The Determinants Of Local Tax Rates: New Evidence From Spain," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(2), pages 351-368, April.
    9. Mattos, Enlinson & Rocha, Fabiana & Maluf Júnior, João, 2017. "Fiscal Strategic Interaction in Brazil: An Analysis of Fiscal War of Ports," Revista Brasileira de Economia - RBE, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil), vol. 71(2), July.
    10. Małkowska, Agnieszka & Telega, Agnieszka & Głuszak, Michał & Marona, Bartłomiej, 2021. "Spatial diversification of property tax policy – Searching for yardstick competition in Polish metropolitan areas," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    11. Cassette, Aurélie & Farvaque, Etienne, 2016. "A dirty deed done dirt cheap: Reporting the blame of a national reform on local politicians," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 127-144.
    12. Anastasios Kitsos & Antonios Proestakis, 2021. "Mediating distributive politics: political alignment and electoral business cycle effects on municipality financing in Greece," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 67(1), pages 1-26, August.
    13. Maria Teresa Balaguer-Coll & María Isabel Brun-Martos & Anabel Forte & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2014. "Determinants of local governments'­ reelection: New evidence based on a Bayesian approach," Working Papers 2014/06, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    14. Cassette, Aurélie & Farvaque, Etienne, 2014. "Are elections debt brakes? Evidence from French municipalities," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 314-316.
    15. J. Sebastian Leguizamon & Casto Martin Montero Kuscevic, 2019. "Party Cues, Political Trends, And Fiscal Interactions In The United States," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(4), pages 600-620, October.
    16. Zdražil Pavel & Pernica Bohuslav, 2021. "Stimuli contributing to local property taxation – with the focus on spatial effects of industry and functional urban areas," Central European Journal of Public Policy, Sciendo, vol. 15(5), pages 55-66, June.
    17. Chiara Dalle Nogare & Matteo Galizzi, 2011. "The political economy of cultural spending: evidence from Italian cities," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 35(3), pages 203-231, August.
    18. Bonev, Petyo & Glachant, Matthieu & Söderberg, Magnus, 2022. "Implicit yardstick competition between heating monopolies in urban areas: Theory and evidence from Sweden," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    19. Michael Klien, 2015. "The political side of public utilities: How opportunistic behaviour and yardstick competition shape water prices in Austria," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(4), pages 869-890, November.
    20. Laurent Van Malderen & Marcel Gerard, 2013. "Testing yardstick competition through a vote-function: evidence from the Walloon municipalities," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 2(4), pages 206-214.
    21. Enlinson Mattos & Ricardo Politi, 2014. "Pro-poor tax policy and yardstick competition: a spatial investigation for VAT relief on food in Brazil," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(1), pages 279-307, January.
    22. Balaguer-Coll, Maria Teresa & Brun-Martos, María Isabel & Forte, Anabel & Tortosa-Ausina, Emili, 2015. "Local governments' re-election and its determinants: New evidence based on a Bayesian approach," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 94-108.
    23. Andres Felipe Muñoz, 2016. "Strategic fiscal interactions among local Governments in Colombia," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 219(4), pages 161-188, December.
    24. Longjin Chen, 2021. "Tax enforcement interactions among Chinese provinces: A frontier and spatial analysis," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 332-348, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    French local governments; Yardstick competition;

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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