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An index of legislators’ performance: evidence from Indian parliamentary data

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  • Saibal Ghosh

    (Qatar Central Bank)

Abstract

Employing information on legislators of the 15th Lok Sabha elections in India, the paper proposes a Legislator Performance Index (LPI). Based on the computed index, we classify legislators as those with low, medium and high performance. Subsequently, we link this index with various covariates within a multivariate regression framework. The findings lend credence to the fact that legislator background is a key factor explaining performance. Besides, the results also suggest that, in conjunction with background, variables such as age, asset position and the reservation status of a constituency play an important role in influencing legislator performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Saibal Ghosh, 2018. "An index of legislators’ performance: evidence from Indian parliamentary data," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 20(1), pages 129-151, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jsecdv:v:20:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s40847-018-0063-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s40847-018-0063-5
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Member of Parliament; Attendance; Questions; Performance; Democracy; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D - Microeconomics
    • H - Public Economics

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