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How do voters respond to welfare vis‐à‐vis public good programs? Theory and evidence of political clientelism

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  • Pranab Bardhan
  • Sandip Mitra
  • Dilip Mookherjee
  • Anusha Nath

Abstract

Using rural household survey data from West Bengal, we find that voters respond positively to excludable government welfare benefits but not to local public good programs, while reporting having benefited from both. Consistent with these voting patterns, shocks to electoral competition induced by exogenous redistricting of villages resulted in upper‐tier governments manipulating allocations across local governments only for excludable benefit programs. Using a hierarchical budgeting model, we argue these results provide credible evidence of the presence of clientelism rather than programmatic politics.

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  • Pranab Bardhan & Sandip Mitra & Dilip Mookherjee & Anusha Nath, 2024. "How do voters respond to welfare vis‐à‐vis public good programs? Theory and evidence of political clientelism," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 15(3), pages 655-697, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:quante:v:15:y:2024:i:3:p:655-697
    DOI: 10.3982/QE2315
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • H76 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other Expenditure Categories
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies

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